UC-IMRLP 


SOCIAL      WORK     SERIES 

HOUSEHOLD 
MANAGEMENT 


By 
FLORENCE  NESBITT 

DIRECTOR  OF  THE  FOOD  CONSERVATION  SECTION  OF  THE  CLEVELAND 

WOMEN'S  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  COUNCIL  OP 

NATIONAL  DEFENSE 


NEW  YORK 

RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION 
1918 


* 


COPYRIGHT,  IQI8,  BY 
THE  RUSSELL  SAGE  FOUNDATION 


Printed  March,  1918,  2110  Copies 
Reprinted  April,  1919,  1000  Copies 
Reprinted  October,  1924,  500  Copies 


WM  •  F.  FELL   CO  •  PRINTERS 
PHILADELPHIA 


PREFACE 

A    HOUSEHOLD    economist   who   read   the   manu- 
jLJL  script  of  this  book  said,  upon  returning  it,  "This 
will  be  a  revelation  to  the  dietitians,  for  nothing  at  all 
like  it  has  ever  been  printed.    It  will  give  some  of  them      > 
their  first  conception  of  what  the  homemakers  who  live  ^ 
in  mean  streets  and  crowded  cities  have  to  contend  with." 

As  editor  of  the  Social  Work  Series,  what  has  impressed 
me  most  in  Miss  Nesbitt's  pages  has  been  the  evidence  of 
keen  observation  and  of  a  rarely  democratic  spirit.    The  \/ 
individual   householders*   whose  troubles  are  described 
here — often  by  no  more  than  a  word  or  two — live  for  the 
reader  and  grip  his  attention,  helping  him  to  see  every-y 
day  life  more  sanely  and  interpret  it  more  sympathetically. 
Other  social  workers  who  have  seen  the  proof-sheets  have 
been  enthusiastic  for  the  practical  reason  that  here  are 
set  down  the  definite  steps  by  which  the  city  dweller 
with  small  income  and  large  family  can  get  the  most 
his  money.    Those  who  are  far  removed  from  dependence    . 
are  glad  enough,  in  these  days,  to  have  such  knowledge. 
I  have  been  interested  to  note,  for  example,  that  the 
clerks  who  copied  these  chapters  were  eager  for  each  in- 
stallment, finding  many  of  the  suggestions  applicable  to 
their  own  households. 

Miss  Nesbitt  is  not  only  a  dietitian — she  is  a  social 
case  worker  of  varied  experience.  As  a  member  of  the 
staff  of  the  United  Charities  of  Chicago,  and  later  of  the 
mothers'  pension  department  of  the  Chicago  Juvenile 

*  It  should  be  explained  that  all  names  given  to  these  real 
people  in  the  book  are  pseudonyms. 


PREFACE 

Court,  she  had  an  opportunity  to  see  where  the  ideas  of 
household  economists,  as  now  formulated,  are  not  uni- 
versally applicable,  and  where,  on  the  other  hand,  they 
are  eminently  practical.  Still  later,  her  work  as  director 
of  one  of  the  food  conservation  sections  organized  by  the 
Council  of  National  Defense  has  impressed  upon  her 
anew  the  fact  that  the  women  who  need  cooking  classes 
and  food  demonstrations  the  most — namely,  those  who 
have  the  least  money — are  the  very  ones  who  remain 
outside  such  present-day  activities,  unless  approached 
understandingly  and  one  by  one.  When  thus  sought  out, 
they  are  eager  to  learn  and  eager  to  apply  their  new 
knowledge. 

Social  workers  who  are  in  and  out  of  the  poorer  homes 
of  the  city  in  response  to  many  varying  calls  know  that 
the  wives  and  mothers  there  are  now  more  interested 
than  ever  before  in  discussing  ways  and  means.  Often, 
however,  the  worker  who  must  pay  many  other  calls 
cannot  take  time  to  enter  into  domestic  details  with  any 
thoroughness.  Even  so,  it  should  be  possible  to  make  an 
opening  for  the  more  leisurely  volunteer,  acting  under 
competent  guidance.  To  her  could  be  entrusted  the  task 
of  carrying  out  the  practical  and  friendly  suggestions  of 
this  book. 

As  its  pages  go  to  press,  the  civilized  countries  of  a 
world  at  war  are  looking  to  America  to  show  her  high- 
est generalship  in  the  production,  distribution,  and  eco- 
nomical use  of  food  stuffs.  The  task  is  one  in  which  the 
humblest  householder  not  only  may  bear  a  part,  but,  in 
doing  so,  may  add  permanently  to  the  health  and  morale 

of  our  own  people. 

MARY  E.  RICHMOND 

Editor  of  the  Social  Work  Series 
New  York,  March,  1918. 


CONTENTS 

PACK 

I.  INTRODUCTION 7 

II.  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR  TO  THE  HOME       .     22 

III.  AIDS  TO  HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGE- 

MENT   43 

IV.  DIETARY  STANDARDS 66 

V.  CHOICE  OF  FOODS 91 

VI.  PURCHASE,  PREPARATION,  AND  SERVING  .       .121 

VII.   HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING          .          .          .          .132 

APPENDIX  A.  Suggestions  for  a  Talk  on  Milk  .  155 
APPENDIX  B.  Special  Diet  Lists  .  .  .  .159 
APPENDIX  C.  Average  Weights  and  Heights  of 

Normal  Children 164 

INDEX 165 


HOUSEHOLD 

MANAGEMENT 


INTRODUCTION 

A  SUCCESSFUL  American  tells  how  his  wid- 
•*  owed  mother  brought  up  her  four  sons  on 
"next  to  nothing  a  year."  But  the  basis  of  their 
diet  was  oatmeal,  cracked  wheat,  milk,  and  vege- 
tables, available  in  their  rural  community  for  the 
"few  cents"  a  day  she  could  spend  for  food. 
No  more  wholesome  diet  for  growing  boys  could 
have  been  secured,  and,  in  addition,  there  was  a 
good  physical  inheritance  back  of  them.  The 
social  worker  whose  daily  tasks  take  her  into  city 
and  town  homes  with  small  incomes  realizes  that 
results  would  be  different  if  the  four  sons  were 
growing  up  now  in  a  crowded  district  where  the 
home  table  had  to  be  furnished  at  present-day 
prices. 

7 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

What  are  the  conditions,  this  social  worker 
may  ask,  necessary  for  health  and  full  physical 
and  mental  development?  Science  is  not  yet  able 
to  give  us  a  complete  and  final  answer ;  yet  we  are 
by  no  means  wholly  without  authoritative  guid- 
ance. Later  chapters  of  this  book  will  attempt 
to  answer  the  question  in  simple,  every-day 
language,  in  so  far  as  the  findings  of  science  and 
the  teachings  of  experience  make  an  answer  pos- 
sible. Meanwhile  it  may  be  well  for  us  to  realize 
at  the  outset  two  facts:  wholesome  living  con- 
ditions cannot  be  provided  without  intelligent 
thought,  neither  can  they  be  provided  without 
at  least  the  smallest  income  which,  with  skillful 
management,  will  buy  the  material  necessities  for 
maintaining  a  normal  home. 

The  subject  of  a  minimum  normal  standard  of 
living  and  its  cost  is  one  on  which  it  is  easy  to 
generalize,  while  it  is  difficult  and  troublesome  to 
go  into  details.  But  the  details,  however  tedious, 
must  be  known  before  one  can  determine  how 
much  a  standard  of  living  will  cost  or  how  nearly 
it  will  fill  human  needs.  The  prosperous  citizen 
whose  own  standard  is  so  far  removed  from  that 
8 


INTRODUCTION 

of  the  city  workingman  as  to  offer  no  basis  of 
comparison  of  costs  may  believe  that  $12  a 
week  is  an  adequate  living  wage  for  the  latter  be- 
cause he  has  known  men  on  that  wage  whose 
families  were  apparently  well  cared  for.  If  he 
were  shown,  however,  that  this  amount  of  money 
can  be  stretched  no  farther  than  to  cover  hous- 
ing in  dark  bedrooms,  food  consisting  largely  of 
bread  and  coffee,  clothing  bought  at  a  second- 
hand store,  furnishing  little  or  no  protection 
against  storms  and  cold,  so  that  children's  feet 
are  wet  and  soggy  half  the  winter,  he  would  at 
once  recognize  its  inadequacy. 

Students  of  the  cost  of  living  are  unanimous 
in  the  decision  that  the  present  rate  of  wage 
of  the  unskilled  workman  will  not  at  prevailing 
prices  support  a  family  of  average  size — two 
adults  and  three  children — in  a  manner  which 
will  furnish  conditions  necessary  for  their  best 
development.  Various  estimates  of  the  income 
necessary  for  this  purpose  have  been  made. 
Robert  Chapin  in  1907,  a.fter  a  study  of  some 
500  workingmen's  family  budgets,  estimated  $825 
a  year  as  the  amount  necessary  in  New  York 
9 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

City;*  while  J.  C.  Kennedy  in  1910,  after  a  study 
of  living  conditions  that  included  about  200  bud- 
gets, estimated  $800  a  year  for  the  Chicago 
Stock  Yards  District,  f  Since  1910,  however,  the 
cost  of  fuel,  clothing,  and  household  necessities 
has  increased  enormously.  The  Board  of  Esti- 
mate and  Apportionment  of  New  York  City  in 
1917  estimated  the  necessary  amount  as  $980.414 
In  smaller  cities  and  communities  nearer  the 
source  of  supplies  for  food  and  fuel  these  figures 
for  cash  income  may  be  lowered.  Nevertheless 
such  figures  as  are  available  for  these  places  indi- 
cate that  the  cost  of  food  supplies,  fuel,  clothing, 
and  household  articles  averages  about  the  same 
as  in  the  larger  cities.  While  fresh  food  materials 

*  Chapin,  Robert  C. :  Standard  of  Living  among  Work- 
ingmen's  Families  in  New  York  City,  p.  281.  New  York, 
Russell  Sage  Foundation  Publication,  Charities  Publica- 
tion Committee,  1909. 

t  Kennedy,  John  C.,  and  others:  Wages  and  Family 
Budgets  in  the  Chicago  Stockyards  District,  with  Wage 
Statistics  from  Other  Industries  Employing  Unskilled 
Labor,  p.  79.  Chicago,  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1914. 

t  Report  on  the  Increased  Cost  of  Living  for  an  Un- 
skilled Laborer's  Family  in  New  York  City.  Prepared  by 
the  Bureau  of  Personal  Service  of  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment.  New  York,  February,  1917. 

10 


INTRODUCTION 

— milk,  vegetables,  and  fruit — are  likely  to  be 
cheaper,  clothing  and  household  supplies  are  fre- 
quently more  expensive  than  in  the  cheaper  city 
shops.  There  are,  however,  in  many  instances 
advantages  difficult  to  estimate — plots  of  ground 
for  a  garden;  chickens,  pigs,  or  a  cow  that  may 
greatly  increase  the  actual  if  not  the  cash  income. 
Neighborhood  farmers  may  be  glad  to  give  fresh 
products  in  exchange  for  a  very  little  work.  There 
may  be  skimmed  milk  at  the  farm  house  or  dairy, 
either  given  away  or  sold  for  a  few  cents  per  gal- 
lon. In  a  certain  village  in  northern  Wisconsin 
the  men  set  aside  a  day  on  which  to  cut  and  haul 
wood  for  the  one  widow  in  the  place.  A  thrifty 
and  industrious  family  often  lives  adequately  in 
a  village  upon  an  incredibly  small  cash  income. 
It  should  be  kept  in  mind,  however,  that  wher- 
ever the  lot  of  the  family  is  cast,  whatever  the 
nationality  or  former  standards  and  habits  of  liv- 
ing, the  material  necessities  for  maintaining  a 
normal  standard  of  living  in  this  country  are  at 
the  minimum  very  much  the  same.  While  some 
of  these  necessities  are  practically  free  in  some 
places,  if  all  of  them  must  be  bought  outright  for 
II 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

cash,  the  difference  in  cost  between  different 
American  communities  is  slight;  and  if  the  esti- 
mates of  the  cost  of  living  given  above  are  ap- 
proximately correct,  it  is  plain  that  on  the  present 
scale  of  wages  for  the  untrained  laborer,  even  in 
some  cases  for  the  semi-skilled,  the  father,  un- 
aided by  the  lucrative  labor  of  his  wife,  cannot 
provide  for  a  family  of  three  children  conditions 
for  wholesome  growth  and  development. 

In  the  endeavor  to  attain  this  wholesome 
standard  of  living — "to  live  nice,"  as  the  mother 
may  say — families  suffer  from  various  handicaps 
which  grow  heavier  as  we  go  down  the  scale  of 
income.  These  handicaps  become  insurmount- 
able for  the  family  of  average  size — five  persons — 
earning  somewhere  from  $800  to  $1,000  per  year 
in  our  large  American  cities,  or  its  equivalent 
in  smaller  places.  On  these  incomes  a  point  is 
reached  at  which  the  money  will  no  longer  buy, 
with  the  amount  of  skill  we  can  reasonably  expect 
from  the  untrained  woman,  the  physical  necessi- 
ties which  will  give  the  children  full  growth  and 
development  and  the  adults  a  chance  to  maintain 
their  efficiency.  Moreover,  the  smaller  the  in- 

12 


INTRODUCTION 

come  the  greater  the  chance  of  its  being  irregular. 
A  day  laborer  is  not  paid  for  days  on  which  he 
does  not  work,  from  whatever  cause.  The  day  off 
of  the  factory  worker  is  most  likely  to  be  at  his 
own  expense,  and  at  best  the  pay  comes  in  in 
small  amounts  so  that  it  is  hard  to  plan  expendi- 
tures to  good  advantage. 

The  heaviest  burden,  therefore,  is  laid  upon 
the  weakest  shoulders.  Even  the  woman  of  edu- 
cation with  an  income  which  supplies  a  generous 
margin  over  the  amount  necessary  for  wholesome 
living  would  no  doubt  have  bitter  moments  if  she 
entered  upon  her  duties  as  a  homemaker  entirely 
untrained.  She  can,  however,  pay  for  her  mis- 
takes in  money,  and  need  not  pay  in  human  life. 
Nor  need  she  go  on  making  serious  mistakes  if  she 
is  willing  to  work  and  study.  The  things  she  has 
greatest  need  of  knowing  have  been  printed  in 
books  which  she  can  read;  they  are  taught  in 
lectures  and  classes  that  she  can  command.  For 
her  the  paths  of  good  living  have  been  blazed  by 
the  experience  of  generations  that  have  given 
thought  to  the  art.  She  is  accustomed  to  order 
and  cleanliness  and  a  home  in  which  the  laws  of 
13 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

sanitation  are  observed.  The  composition  of  the 
meals  prescribed  by  the  customs  of  her  circle  of 
acquaintance  conforms  reasonably  well  to  die- 
tetic standards.  She  will  quite  naturally  serve 
fruit,  cereal,  bacon,  and  eggs  for  breakfast;  soup, 
meat,  salad,  two  or  three  vegetables,  and  a  sweet 
or  fruit  dessert  for  dinner.  She  cannot  get  very 
far  away  from  an  adequate  dietary  in  following 
these  customs,  though  she  may  spend  a  great  deal 
more  money  than  is  necessary. 

The  case  of  many  girls  who  marry  out  of  the 
'  factory  or  shop,  however,  is  quite  different.  Not 
only  is  such  a  girl  usually  untrained  for  her  busi- 
ness of  homemaker,  but  the  avenues  of  informa- 
tion are  for  the  most  part  closed  to  her.  She  does 
not  read;  sometimes  cannot.  She  cannot  afford 
to  pay  for  instruction,  nor  do  the  customs  of  her 
circle  stand  her  in  good  stead.  The  home  in  which 
she  grew  up  has  often  been  dirty,  disorderly,  and 
crowded.  The  habits  of  the  family  were  perhaps 
uncleanly.  The  daily  meals  of  coffee  and  bread, 
with  one  to  which  meat  and  potatoes  were  added, 
violated  the  laws  of  good  nourishment.  Her  hus- 
band's wage  is  small,  increasing  slowly,  if  at  all. 
14 


INTRODUCTION 

Thus,  wherever  the  line  may  be  drawn  at  which 
the  income  is  insufficient  to  buy  the  essentials  of 
a  normal  standard  of  living,  long  before  this  line 
is  reached  failure  on  the  part  of  the  homemaker 
is  almost  assured  because  she  is  untrained  for  her 
task.  When  income  drops  to  a  point  where  no 
mistake  can  be  afforded,  no  dishonesty  of  trades- 
people be  endured,  no  accident  be  allowed  for, 
it  is  where  even  a  wise  and  well  trained  woman 
might  conceivably  fail  in  her  household  adminis- 
tration. But  the  women  who  must  manage  these 
small  incomes  are  often  unwise  and  seldom  well 
trained.  Mistakes  are  practically  certain  to  occur, 
and  they  must  be  paid  for  in  the  stunted  bodies 
and  weakened  brains  of  children,  in  the  ineffi- 
ciency or  drunkenness  of  husbands,  and  in  pre- 
mature aging  of  the  mothers'  own  bodies.  In  a 
few  years  the  pretty,  fresh-faced  bride  is  an  old, 
broken  woman,  discouraged  by  the  struggle  of 
trying  to  make  so  few  dollars  cover  the  needs  of 
so  many  mouths  and  so  many  feet. 

The  wisest  and  best  trained  woman  in  the  land 
could  not  have  stretched  Mr.  King's  $13  per  week 
over  adequate  living  for  his  family  of  six  children. 
15 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

The  charity  organization  society  to  which  they 
were  referred  by  a  lady  who  had  been  struck  by 
their  poverty  sent  its  home  economics  worker  in 
the  hope  that  she  might  be  helpful  to  the  mother 
in  her  household  problems.  The  trained  worker, 
however,  found  little  opportunity  for  service. 
Like  many  women  in  a  similar  position,  the 
mother  had  discovered  through  experience  the 
way  to  make  her  small  income  meet  such  neces- 
sities of  life  as  she  could  pay  for.  Clothing  not 
received  as  gifts  was  bought  at  a  Salvation  Army 
store  for  a  few  cents  a  garment.  A  bargain  had 
been  driven  with  the  cobbler  around  the  corner 
to  mend  the  shoes  at  times  when  he  had  no  other 
work  at  a  charge  of  little  more  than  cost  of  ma- 
terials. The  children  knew  the  best  places  to  look 
for  the  broken  boxes  which  furnished  nearly  all 
the  fuel  for  the  battered  stove  in  which  baking 
was  almost  impossible.  After  the  rent  of  $3. 50  a 
week  and  other  necessary  running  expenses  had 
been  paid  there  were  usually  $7.00  left  for  food. 
Most  of  this  sum  was  spent  for  day-old  bread 
at  half  to  two-thirds  the  regular  price,  for  the 
variety  of  dried  peas  and  beans  which  happened 
16 


INTRODUCTION 

to  be  cheapest  at  the  time,  and  for  oatmeal,  corn- 
meal,  sugar,  and  syrup.  All  these  articles  are 
among  those  which  give  the  highest  value  for  the 
money  spent,  and  to  which  the  choice  must  be 
largely  confined  if  food  for  eight  persons  for  a  week 
is  to  be  secured  for  so  small  an  amount  of  money. 
Ten  cents  daily  were  spent  for  meat  for  the  father 
and  there  was  an  occasional  5  cents'  worth  of 
trimmings  of  fat  from  a  good-natured  butcher 
who  would  ordinarily  have  scorned  such  small 
sales.  Two  quarts  of  milk  were  being  received  as 
a  gift,  and  this  with  coffee  and  bread  made  up 
two  meals  of  the  day,  while  the  third  was  usually 
of  soup  or  porridge  made  of  beans,  peas,  or  cereal. 
On  Sunday  the  family  had  a  stew  made  of  a 
cheap  cut  of  meat  and  a  vegetable — whatever 
was  cheapest  at  the  time,  usually  a  five-cent 
rutabaga. 

This  administration  of  Mr.  King's  income  by 
his  wife,  ignorant  of  the  principles  of  nutrition, 
was  in  most  respects  an  efficient  one;  that  is, 
little  more  could  have  been  secured  for  the 
money,  although  the  result  was  pitifully  inade- 
quate. Had  the  income  been  doubled,  however, 
2  17 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

thus  being  raised  to  an  amount  which  with  care- 
ful and  intelligent  management  could  have  been 
made  to  buy  the  things  needful  for  a  home  in 
which  the  children  could  grow  and  develop  in  a 
natural,  healthful  way,  and  the  husband  retain 
his  full  working  power,  the  mother  would  have 
faced  an  infinitely  more  complicated  problem, 
and  she  might  not  have  been  equal  to  it.  A  child 
who  can  do  simple  addition  is  not  always  able 
to  do  long  division  or  factoring. 

Take,  for  example,  the  case  of  Mrs.  Zarmonski, 
who  for  two  years  had  managed  a  bare  existence 
income  wonderfully  well,  and  had  kept  her  three 
children  alive — no  small  achievement — though 
seriously  stunted  in  growth.  She  was  granted  a 
mother's  pension  which  would  have  provided 
adequate  food,  clothing,  and  shelter  for  her  fam- 
ily had  it  been  judiciously  managed.  It  was 
several  months,  however,  before  the  supervising 
visitor  succeeded  in  inducing  her  to  make  changes 
in  the  food  habits,  which  had  necessarily  been 
very  restricted  under  the  former  conditions,  or 
to  pay  an  extra  $2.00  per  month  rent  in  order  to 
have  well  ventilated  sleeping  rooms.  The  first 
18 


INTRODUCTION 

month  of  the  larger  income  there  were  white 
shoes  and  stockings  as  well  as  dresses  for  all  the 
children ;  the  second,  an  expensive  bright  colored 
rug  for  the  sitting  room.  There  had  been  nothing 
in  her  experience  or  training  to  enable  her  to 
make  intelligent  judgments  of  the  kind  now  nec- 
essary. Before  this  she  had  only  to  decide  which 
things  were  necessary  to  sustain  life  and  which 
unnecessary.  Now  she  was  called  upon  to  decide 
as  to  which  desirable  things  outside  this  realm  of 
necessity  were  essential  and  which  non-essential 
to  the  welfare  of  her  family.  There  was  no  reason 
to  expect  she  would  be  able  to  make  these  deci- 
sions wisely,  yet  the  limitation  of  her  income 
forced  them  upon  her  daily  and  her  failure  meant 
the  daily  lessening  chances  of  her  children's  attain- 
ing manhood  and  womanhood  with  strong,  well 
developed  bodies. 

On  the  other  hand,  many  women  are  incapable 
even  of  succeeding,  as  did  Mrs.  Zarmonski  and 
Mrs.  King,  at  the  elementary  task  of  making  an 
existence  income  "do."  Mrs.  Fisk,  whose  hus- 
band earned  $2.00  a  day  irregularly,  with  four 
children  to  feed,  included  boiled  ham,  ready- 
19 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

to-eat  cereals,  and  canned  baked  beans  in  her 
menu. 

It  is  evident,  then,  that  while  knowledge  and 
skill  cannot  make  adequate  an  income  that  is  too 
low  to  buy  the  materials  needed  for  normal  living, 
it  is  in  general  true  that  the  lower  the  income  the 
greater  need  has  the  homemaker  for  the  fullest 
training  and  most  complete  knowledge  of  all  the 
arts  and  sciences  included  in  home  economics. 
Too  often,  however,  the  sum  of  her  knowledge  on 
these  subjects  is  the  traditions  and  superstitions 
inherited  from  her  ancestors  and  such  training  as 
her  parents'  home — often  in  a  foreign  country 
where  conditions  were  entirely  different — af- 
forded before  she  was  thrust  out,  immature,  to 
make  her  own  home.  Her  need  of  the  latest  dis- 
coveries of  science  which  throw  light  upon  the 
daily  problems  of  physical  life  is  urgent.  But 
before  she  can  be  helped,  these  discoveries  must 
be  translated  from  the  language  of  the  scientist 
into  the  simple  terms  of  her  daily  living.  Some- 
times they  can  reach  her  by  no  other  avenue  than 
by  word  of  mouth  or  by  demonstration  from  the 
visitor  whom  her  misfortune  brings  to  her  door — 

20 


INTRODUCTION 

the  nurse,  probation  officer,  relief  agent,  or 
friendly  visitor.  Occasionally  a  word  at  the  psy- 
chological moment  from  this  trusted  friend  of 
the  family  marks  the  beginning  of  a  revolution 
in  the  conduct  of  a  home  or  in  the  physical  habits 
of  a  family.  More  often,  however,  the  sum  of 
many  words  and  demonstrations  is  needed  to 
start  and  guide  the  changes  which  bring  whole- 
some living  conditions  out  of  an  unkempt,  mis- 
managed home. 

The  object  of  this  little  volume  is  to  offer  to 
the  busy  social  worker  whose  specialty  is  family 
work  and  whose  contact  with  burdened  mothers 
gives  her  rich  opportunities  for  spreading  the 
gospel  of  right  living,  a  translation  of  the  prin- 
ciples underlying  nutrition  and  the  other  arts  and 
sciences  connected  with  homemaking  into  terms 
of  the  simplest  daily  life.  The  characteristics  of 
that  daily  life  on  the  household  management  side 
will  first  concern  us,  then  the  stock  of  knowledge 
now  at  our  command  which  can  be  applied 
readily  to  household  conditions  as  we  find  them. 


21 


II 

PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR  TO  THE 
HOME 

TTTHAT  are  the  essentials  of  homemaking? 
This  is  a  question  that  the  visitor  to  the 
home  should  ask  herself  on  entering  upon  her  task. 
She  wishes  to  make  her  efforts  count  in  building 
up  the  life  of  each  family  under  her  supervision 
at  the  point  where  its  needs  are  most  vital.  How 
distinguish  these  needs?  By  what  touchstone  is 
she  to  test  the  destroying  effect  of  a  dozen  dif- 
ferent shortcomings  in  household  management, 
cooking,  and  choice  of  foods,  or  gauge  the  par- 
ticular adaptability  to  the  case  of  different  edu- 
cational methods?  The  subject  of  homemaking 
is  so  wide,  standards  are  so  various  and  ill  defined, 
that  it  is  easy  to  become  hopelessly  lost  in  a  maze 
of  details  with  no  sense  of  proportion  left.  One 
may  find  oneself  giving  to  trivial  preferences 
the  importance  of  an  essential  principle.  Thus  a 
conscientious  worker  spent  an  incredible  amount 
22 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

of  time  and  energy  in  inducing  a  housekeeper  to 
make  beds  in  the  morning  instead  of  in  the  after- 
noon. Did  the  matter  warrant  such  an  expendi- 
ture? What  may  seem  confusion  to  an  outsider 
often  represents  order  to  the  worker  in  the  midst 
of  the  task.  Her  own  system,  evolved  by  her 
personal  effort,  may  be  better  for  her  than  a 
more  efficient  one  handed  down  ready-made. 

The  standards  of  housekeeping  are  various. 
To  one  woman  a  chair  out  of  place  or  a  speck  of 
dust  on  the  furniture  would  render  her  house 
unendurable.  To  another  a  regime  of  such  im- 
maculate order  represents  intense  discomfort. 
The  woman,  usually  credited  to  New  England, 
who  keeps  house  "by  the  wrath  of  God"  to  the 
martyrdom  of  husband  and  children  has  become 
a  familiar  figure  in  literature.  Certainly  any 
attempt  to  impose  a  personal  standard  on  a  fam- 
ily of  which  one  is  not  a  part  should  be  preceded 
by  searching  inquiry  as  to  whether  the  matter  in 
question  is  essential  to  family  welfare.  Customs 
and  habits  differ  widely  in  different  countries, 
yet  each  civilized  nation  has  a  standard  of  whole- 
some living  to  which  a  majority  of  its  inhabitants 
23 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

under  favorable  conditions  adhere.  How  far 
should  we  reduce  these  standards  to  a  sameness? 
While  undoubtedly  some  time  is  gained  for  home- 
lier tasks  when  the  Italian  or  Polish  woman  gives 
up  making  the  crocheted  lace  with  which  she  so 
lavishly  decorates  her  bed  coverlets,  chairs,  man- 
telpiece, etc.,  still  without  it  her  rooms  lack  a 
certain  native  charm.  Americanization  is  too 
often  a  ruthless  destroyer  of  beauty  and  charm. 

Can  we  not  say  that  whatever  is  necessary  for 
the  health — physical  and  mental — of  the  family, 
and  for  the  unity  of  its  life,  is  essential  to  success- 
ful homemaking,  while  things  not  necessary  for 
these  purposes,  however  desirable,  are  unessen- 
tial? It  is  well  to  remember,  also,  that  whatever 
is  essential  applies  equally  to  the  Italian,  Slavic, 
and  American  family. 

The  educational  work  needed  in  any  family  is, 
of  course,  dependent  upon  the  situation  revealed 
by  the  study  of  its  condition.  Few  mothers  of 
families  likely  to  become  dependent  have  had  any 
theoretical  training  for  the  important  work  of 
homemaker,  but  most  have  had  more  or  less  prac- 
tical training.  Some  are  able  to  deal  with  all 
24 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

except  the  most  complicated  problems  in  a  fairly 
efficient  way.  Others  are  almost  as  helpless  in 
their  task  as  would  be  a  young  child  who  had 
suddenly  acquired  the  management  of  a  house- 
hold. 

The  character  of  the  home  life  of  the  mother 
during  her  childhood  and  her  industrial  history 
are  elements  in  the  background  of  the  situation 
which  are  of  great  importance  in  laying  plans  for 
educational  work.  For  example:  if  the  mother 
of  a  shiftless  housekeeper  was  thrifty  and  indus- 
trious, any  reminder  of  her  training  will  be  use- 
ful. A  Swedish  woman  who  had  fallen  through 
want  and  discouragement  into  slovenly  habits 
was  restored  to  her  former  standard  simply  by 
the  renewal  of  a  long  broken  relationship  with 
her  sisters,  who  had  kept  their  mother's  teach- 
ings. Many  women  of  foreign  birth  who  were 
taught  careful  management  in  their  youth  have 
since  fallen  into  the  prevalent  and  deplorable 
American  attitude  of  scorn  for  small  economies; 
familiarity  with  their  background  may  point  the 
way  to  a  return  to  long  discarded  habits  and  cus- 
toms. Again,  the  woman  who  was  in  domestic  ser- 
25 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

vice  before  her  marriage  is  better  trained  for  the 
care  of  her  own  household  than  if  she  had  worked 
in  factory  or  shop.  In  short,  any  earlier  expe- 
riences which  inculcated  sounder  standards  than 
those  at  present  prevailing  in  the  home  may  be 
classed  as  an  asset  of  reconstruction. 

It  should  be  recognized,  then,  at  the  outset, 
that  the  widest  possible  variation,  not  only  in 
present  standards  and  home  conditions,  but  in 
background  and  summonable  resources  of  past 
training  and  experience,  will  be  found  among  the 
families  that  come  under  the  social  worker's  care. 
Yet  the  need  for  certain  educational  work  is 
practically  universal.  None  of  the  mothers  are 
familiar  with  the  simple  principles  of  nutrition 
which  must  be  known  by  one  who  would  make 
intelligent  choice  of  foods.  None  possess  such  a 
knowledge  of  the  comparative  values  of  different 
foods,  kinds  of  clothing,  household  materials  and 
supplies,  as  will  enable  them  to  lay  out  their 
money  to  the  best  advantage.  All  need  more  or 
less  instruction  in  dietetic  standards  and  help  in 
planning  the  family  budget. 

While  the  infinite  variety  in  personal  charac- 
26 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

teristics  and  in  circumstances  makes  any  hard 
and  fast  classification  of  families  impossible,  the 
visitor  to  the  home  inevitably  tends  to  group 
families  according  to  certain  obvious  character- 
istics having  special  significance  for  her.  Thus, 
there  is  the  group  of  families  whose  general  home 
standards — as  to  cleanliness,  order,  etc. — are 
comparatively  high,  but  whose  dietary  needs  are 
not  met;  the  family  (far  rarer)  whose  general 
home  standards  are  very  low,  yet  whose  food  is 
fairly  adequate;  and  the  families — a  large  and 
heterogeneous  group — whose  general  home  stan- 
dards and  whose  dietary  standards  are  alike 
below  par. 

Whatever  the  type,  the  rapidity  with  which  a 
family  can  rise  to  a  normal  standard  of  living  de- 
pends, in  general,  upon  the  will  of  the  mother  to 
reach  it  and  her  receptiveness  more  than  upon 
any  other  factors. 

Many  of  the  mothers  met  are  of  excellent 
natural  ability,  with  a  devotion  to  their  children 
which  makes  them  eager  to  learn  everything  that 
will  increase  their  efficiency  as  caretakers.  As  a 
rule  these  mothers  can  sew,  clean,  and  perform 
27 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

satisfactorily  most  of  the  necessary  cooking  op- 
erations. They  have  had,  however,  no  oppor- 
tunity to  learn  anything  of  food  values  or  of 
dietetics,  and  so  are  unable  to  choose  wisely, 
especially  as  their  ignorance  makes  them  an  easy 
prey  to  clever  or  unscrupulous  advertisers.  They 
frequently  pay  extravagant  prices  for  patented 
foods  which  pose  as  brain  foods  or  producers  of 
great  energy. 

In  these  clean,  apparently  well  ordered  homes, 
often  the  most  acute  under-nourishment  is  found. 
The  standards  of  cleanliness  and  housekeeping 
are  good,  but  clothing  and  furnishings  are  being 
kept  up  at  the  expense  of  food.  Sometimes  the 
desire  for  learning  causes  the  skimping.  If  the 
mother  has  had  to  support  the  family  by  doing 
days'  work,  she  is  likely  to  long  fiercely  to  have 
her  children  rise  above  this  way  of  living.  Many 
an  under-nourished  child  is  being  put  through 
school  until  he  "graduates"  at  the  expense  of  his 
own  and  his  mother's  vital  energy. 

The  small  and  irregular  supply  of  money  pre- 
vents such  a  mother  from  working  out  an  eco- 
nomical system  of  expenditure;  she  buys  from 
28 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

day  to  day  at  great  disadvantage;  she  neglects 
the  care  of  her  own  and  the  children's  teeth,  or, 
to  save  coal  and  covering,  lets  them  sleep  in  un- 
ventilated  rooms.  If  sufficient  income  can  be 
assured,  these  mistakes  are  easily  and  quickly 
corrected  by  the  woman  eager  to  improve  living 
conditions. 

At  the  death  of  her  husband,  a  laborer,  Mrs. 
Kleinberg  received  $1,900  insurance,  and  for  four 
years  managed,  by  the  aid  of  this  fund  and  her 
own  work,  to  care  for  her  four  children  without 
asking  for  relief.  Her  health  finally  broke  down 
under  the  strain  and  she  became  the  recipient  of 
a  mother's  pension.  At  this  time  the  tuberculosis 
dispensary  gave  the  following  report  of  the  physi- 
cal condition  of  the  family: 

Mrs.  Kleinberg,  weight  n6>£  pounds,  second  stage 
pulmonary  tuberculosis.  John,  thirteen  years  old,  weight 
74  pounds  (14  pounds  below  the  average),  tuberculous 
glands.  William,  ten  years  old,  weight  57^  pounds  (9 
pounds  below  the  average),  first  stage  pulmonary  tuber- 
culosis. Mary,  seven-and-a-half  years  old,  weight  46^ 
pounds  (3  pounds  below  the  average),  tuberculous 
glands.  Thomas,  six  years  old,  weight  42  pounds  (3 
pounds  below  the  average),  non-tuberculous. 
29 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

The  first  expense  account  received  from  the 
family  after  they  began  receiving  relief  showed 
that  the  habitual  daily  diet  was  baker's  bread, 
one  to  two  pounds  with  a  dozen  buns.  Meat  and 
potatoes  were  a  part  of  the  daily  fare,  and  some- 
times a  second  vegetable,  usually  canned  beans 
or  peas.  Half  a  pound  of  butter  was  bought  once, 
occasionally  twice,  during  the  week,  and  once  in 
a  while  a  prepared  cereal,  usually  cornflakes. 
There  was  no  fruit  and  no  regular  supply  of 
milk,  but  now  and  then  a  pint  or  quart  was 
bought. 

Mrs.  Kleinberg  was  given  the  simple  rules  for 
the  regulation  of  family  diet  which  appear  on 
page  89,  information  on  food  values,  a  recipe 
book,  and  help  in  planning  her  expenditures. 
She  could  already  cook  reasonably  well  and  she 
used  the  recipes  to  good  advantage.  Teeth  and 
diseased  tonsils  received  attention,  and  the  fam- 
ily was  moved  into  a  suburban  cottage  with  gar- 
den space.  Six  months  later  Mrs.  Kleinberg  had 
gained  six  pounds  and  the  children  were  reported 
as  having  improved.  Her  expense  accounts, 
which  were  kept  with  great  fidelity,  showed  that 
30 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

three  quarts  of  milk  daily  were  being  used ;  that 
enough  cereals  and  fruit  were  bought  for  liberal 
daily  use,  and  that  fuel  and  staple  foods  were 
purchased  in  large  enough  quantities  to  last  from 
one  payment  to  another.  Bread  was  being  baked 
at  home,  and  the  garden  was  so  successful  as  to 
furnish  a  sufficient  quantity  of  vegetables.  The 
standard  of  housekeeping  and  cleanliness  was 
good  and  the  children's  clothing  attractively 
made  and  kept. 

The  income  at  this  time  (1914)  was  $48  per 
month,  plus  the  garden  and  some  gifts  of  cloth- 
ing. As  cost  of  living  and  the  needs  of  the  family 
increased,  it  became,  by  1917,  $69  per  month.  In 
this  latter  year  the  tuberculosis  dispensary  re- 
ported that  all  of  the  family  were  well  and  well 
nourished,  that  the  weights  of  three  of  the  chil- 
dren were  up  to  the  average  of  normal  children  of 
their  age,  and  that  the  fourth  was  four  pounds 
over  the  average. 

At  the  opposite  extreme  from  Mrs.  Kleinberg's 

is  the  home  where  the  standard  of  cleanliness  is 

low  and  the  clothing  and  household  furnishing 

receive  scant  attention,  yet  where  the  food  is 

31 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

fairly  adequate  and  the  children  appear  to  be  in 
normal  physical  condition.  The  children  of  these 
families — comparatively  few  in  number — are  the 
ones  that  have  given  rise  to  the  fallacy  that  the 
children  of  the  poor  are  healthy.  Their  faces  may 
be  habitually  grimy  and  their  clothing  torn  and 
ragged,  but  their  skins  are  clear  and  fresh  and 
their  weight  is  normal.  Probably  in  most  cases 
this  is  due  to  a  splendid  physical  inheritance, 
fairly  adequate  food,  and  enough  outdoor  life 
partly  to  offset  the  bad  living  conditions  inside 
the  house. 

In  the  third  group  of  families  the  standard 
is  an  all-round  low  one — uncleanliness,  lack  of 
proper  household  management,  poor  food,  bad 
hygienic  habits,  all  contribute  to  the  family  ill 
being.  Here  experience  has  proved  that  the  ex- 
planation often  lies  in  the  mother's  poor  physical 
condition,  in  subnormal  mind  or  lack  of  mental 
balance,  in  exceptionally  deficient  home  training, 
or  in  bad  habits — particularly  drink  and  sexual 
immorality. 

Mrs.  Frank,  at  sixteen,  had  married  a  man  old 
enough  to  be  her  father,  and  at  twenty  was  left  a 
32 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

widow  with  three  children.  Mr.  Frank  seems 
always  to  have  treated  his  wife  as  though  she  had 
remained  the  young  child  whom  he  first  knew. 
She  had  never  handled  money  and  had  per- 
formed very  few  of  the  household  tasks  except  to 
cook  and  care  for  the  babies.  Left,  when  her 
husband  died,  in  poor  health,  with  a  nursing 
baby,  and  without  means  of  support,  she  applied 
for  relief.  The  agent  found  her  in  three  poor 
rooms,  heated  by  a  coal  stove  which  she  did  not 
know  how  to  manage.  During  the  cold  days  of 
the  winter  following,  it  became  necessary  to  take 
mother  and  babies  from  their  rickety  rooms  and 
deposit  them  with  a  kindly  neighbor  lest  they 
should  freeze  to  death.  Mrs.  Frank  seemed  ut- 
terly unable  to  feed  the  fire  or  to  keep  the  ashes 
shaken  down  in  the  stove,  and  when  the  cold  got 
too  intense  she  simply  went  to  bed  and  waited 
for  someone  to  come  and  rebuild  the  fire.  The 
kitchen  table  was  habitually  piled  high  with  sam- 
ples of  all  the  household  articles  they  possessed : 
dirty  dishes  half  filled  with  food  were  mixed  with 
the  children's  shoes,  with  nails,  brushes,  cooking 
utensils,  and  bits  of  junk. 
3  33 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

This  woman,  though  obviously  of  low  mental 
ability,  was  said  by  the  psychologist  who  ex- 
amined her  not  to  be  subnormal;  the  explana- 
tion of  her  exceptional  incapability  seemed  to  be 
that  she  had  grown  up  in  an  isolated  way,  the 
only  home  she  had  ever  known  having  been  in  a 
houseboat  on  a  river.  Apparently  no  standard  of 
a  well  ordered  home  had  been  established  in  her 
mind,  and  she  had  received  almost  no  training 
for  the  life  before  her. 

During  the  first  four  months  of  the  period 
during  which  she  received  relief  she  was  visited 
on  an  average  of  four  times  a  week.  Time  after 
time  the  visitor  found  conditions  almost  as  on  the 
original  visit.  If  she  was  left  to  herself  for  even  a 
few  days,  unbelievable  piles  of  dirty  clothing  and 
rags  would  accumulate  on  chairs  or  beds  or  be 
thrust  into  the  dark  corners  of  closets. 

This  woman  needed  to  be  taught  practically 
everything — homemaking,  cooking,  cleaning,  and 
the  care  of  children,  as  well  as  diet,  choice  of  food, 
and  household  management.  At  the  end  of  two 
years  of  faithful  work,  during  which  the  family 
had  been  moved  into  better  rooms  and  the 
34 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

mother  had  received  the  medical  and  dental  care 
necessary  to  get  her  into  fairly  good  physical  con- 
dition, weekly  or  semi-weekly  visits  were  still 
necessary  in  order  to  be  sure  that  the  children 
were  reasonably  clean,  well  fed,  and  clothed.  Yet 
the  mother  showed  decided  improvement,  and 
her  devotion  to  her  children  was  unquestionably 
strong.  Moreover,  she  possessed  considerable  na- 
tive refinement  and  the  moral  tone  of  the  home 
was  high.  It  seems  probable  that,  as  the  children 
grow  older,  their  training  may  make  up  for  the 
mother's  lack. 

A  woman  who  is  mentally  subnormal  fre- 
quently, like  Mrs.  Frank,  shows  such  whole- 
hearted devotion  to  her  children  that  (under  close 
supervision)  she  learns  in  spite  of  her  handicap  to 
give  them  good  physical  care. 

Mrs.  Weiss,  left  a  widow  with  five  children 
under  nine  and  no  means  of  support,  was  men- 
tally incapable  of  making  change  and  was  graded 
very  low  on  other  mental  tests.  House  and  chil- 
dren were  habitually  in  such  a  condition  of  filth 
and  neglect  that  all  observers  agreed  that  the 
children  should  receive  institutional  care.  On  the 
35 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

mother's  insistence  upon  keeping  them,  she  was 
given  a  trial  under  the  close  supervision  of  a 
juvenile  court  officer  and  of  her  mother-in-law, 
who  lived  in  the  same  building.  By  slow  degrees 
she  learned  how  to  handle  money,  how  to  keep 
her  house  clean,  and  her  children  well  fed  and 
clothed.  She  was  eager  to  learn  and  worked  hard. 
One  desirable  habit  after  another  was  slowly 
established.  Arrangements  were  devised  for 
keeping  the  food  materials  covered,  and  she 
learned  to  wash  the  dishes  regularly  after  each 
meal,  before  any  special  attention  was  given  to 
the  condition  of  the  floor.  Then  regular  periods 
of  scrubbing  were  inaugurated.  Food  problems 
were  easier  to  handle  with  her  than  with  many 
more  intelligent  women,  as  she  was  willing  to 
follow  instructions  literally.  She  agreed  to  buy 
three  quarts  of  milk  each  day  and  to  make  no 
coffee  for  the  children.  A  list  of  cooking  times  for 
cereals  was  given  her,  which  she  followed.  A  vege- 
table and  a  fruit  were  chosen  for  each  day's  use 
from  a  list  given  her.  The  expenditure  for  meat 
was  limited  to  25  cents  a  day.  Later  she  mas- 
tered a  fair  amount  of  regularity  in  meal  times. 

36 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

On  the  other  hand,  another  subnormal  woman 
with  equally  faithful  and  close  supervision  and 
with  the  help  of  an  unusually  capable  mother 
who  lived  a  few  blocks  away,  improved  little  in 
the  care  of  her  house  and  children  and  became  a 
sexual  delinquent  within  a  few  months.  In  an- 
other case,  a  home  economy  worker  made  daily 
visits  over  a  period  of  many  weeks  to  a  home 
where  the  mother  was  mildly  insane  before  con- 
ditions became  such  that  commitment  to  a  hos- 
pital for  the  insane  was  possible.  Through  the 
cooperation  of  the  father  and  older  children,  the 
children  had  been  kept  in  school  and  reasonably 
well  clothed  and  fed,  but  the  mother  herself  had 
contributed  nothing  to  the  result,  though  she  had 
remained  in  apparent  charge  of  the  household. 

Of  a  radically  different  type,  though  some- 
times found  living  in  an  equal  degree  of  squalor, 
are  those  families  whose  standard,  once  higher, 
has  lapsed  through  the  mother's  discouragement, 
brought  on  by  extreme  poverty  or  illness  or 
other  misfortune.  The  change  for  the  better  is 
often  startlingly  rapid  after  the  conditions  which 
brought  about  the  deterioration  are  removed. 
37 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

Mr.  Anderson  had  become  physically  incapa- 
citated by  an  accident  shortly  after  his  marriage, 
and  for  six  years  Mrs.  Anderson  supported  the 
family  by  doing  night  scrubbing.  The  conditions 
in  the  home  came  to  light  through  the  mother's 
application  at  a  lying-in  dispensary.  Mr.  Ander- 
son had  become  violently  insane  several  weeks 
earlier,  and  she  had  kept  him  locked  in  one  room 
while  she  had  gone  to  her  work,  leaving  the  three 
children  under  seven  locked  in  the  rest  of  the 
house.  Naturally  the  house  and  children  were 
in  an  indescribably  neglected  condition  and  the 
fourth  child  was  born  in  these  surroundings.  Mrs. 
Anderson  was  in  a  nervous  and  seriously  run- 
down condition  though  with  no  definite  disease. 
The  two-year-old  child  had  rickets  and  could  not 
walk.  The  four-year-old  was  also  rachitic  but 
able  to  walk.  The  oldest  boy  was  very  much 
under-nourished . 

Mr.  Anderson  was  sent  to  a  sanitarium  and  the 
wife  received  a  regular  allowance  for  the  support 
of  her  family.  She  was  given  instructions  in  diet, 
recipes  for  simple  dishes,  and  three  quarts  of  milk 
a  day.  Insistence  upon  a  higher  standard  of 
38 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

cleanliness  was  left  until  her  health  was  better. 
A  month  later  the  house  was  still  habitually  dirty 
and  disorderly  but  the  food  was  greatly  improved 
and  she  had  learned  to  manage  her  income. 
The  three  quarts  of  milk,  a  well  cooked  cereal, 
vegetables,  and  fruits  were  part  of  the  daily  diet. 

She  was  advised  to  buy  staple  food  materials 
in  larger  amounts  than  had  been  her  habit,  was 
shown  samples  of  orders  bought  by  other  mothers 
in  similar  circumstances,  and  was  helped  to  make 
out  a  list  for  herself.  An  infant  welfare  nurse 
gave  instructions  about  the  care  of  the  baby,  and 
she  received  a  typewritten  diet  list  to  use  for  the 
two-year-old  child,  and  learned  to  wash  his  face 
and  hands  before  eating.  At  the  end  of  another 
month  the  family  was  moved  into  better  rooms. 
The  visitor  went  over  the  care  of  food  materials 
with  Mrs.  Anderson  and  found  she  had  two  dozen 
glass  jars  which  could  be  used  for  the  purpose; 
and  tin  boxes  for  bread,  flour,  and  sugar  were 
added. 

Six  months  after  regular  instructions  had  be- 
gun the  house  was  habitually  clean,  well  venti- 
lated, and  orderly.  Staple  food  materials  were 
39 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

being  kept  on  hand  in  covered  receptacles.  The 
table  was  habitually  set  for  meals  and  the  chil- 
dren trained  to  eat  with  clean  hands.  The  usual 
breakfast  was  of  cereal  and  milk;  the  main  dish 
at  the  dinner  was  soup,  meat,  or  eggs,  with  pota- 
toes and  fruit ;  the  supper  consisted  of  vegetables 
with  milk  and  bread.  The  two-year-old  boy  was 
learning  to  walk  and  had  acquired  a  fairly  good 
color.  Mrs.  Anderson  had  learned  to  plan  her 
household  expenses  so  as  to  buy  staple  food  ma- 
terials, coal,  and  household  supplies  in  amounts 
large  enough  to  last  a  month.  She  was  baking  her 
own  bread,  buying  cereals  in  bulk,  using  oleomar- 
garine, choosing  the  vegetables  and  fruits  cheap- 
est at  the  time,  so  that  her  income  was  covering 
the  needs  of  the  family.  Later  a  sewing  machine 
was  added  to  her  household  equipment  and  she 
made  all  of  the  children's  clothing.  At  the  end  of 
two  years  the  children  were  apparently  in  normal 
physical  condition  and  well  mannered.  The  house 
was  clean  and  well  ordered.  This  woman  was  not 
of  high  mental  ability  and  was  almost  entirely 
untrained,  but  was  eager  to  learn  and  faithful  in 
following  advice. 

40 


PROBLEMS  OF  THE  VISITOR 

Often  the  low  standards  of  a  home  can  be 
traced  even  more  definitely  than  in  the  case  of 
Mrs.  Anderson  to  the  ill  health  of  the  mother.  In 
such  cases,  until  the  physical  or  mental  condition 
has  received  thoroughgoing  attention,  little  im- 
provement in  home  conditions  is  possible.  Mrs. 
Adams,  left  a  widow  with  five  small  children,  was 
the  despair  of  relatives  and  friends  who  tried  to 
help  her  in  her  distress  because  of  the  filthy  and 
disorderly  condition  of  the  house  and  her  shiftless 
household  management.  A  brother-in-law  who 
was  willing  to  contribute  regularly  to  the  support 
of  the  family  insisted  upon  turning  over  his 
money  to  the  organization  which  assumed  respon- 
sibility for  her  care.  He  said  that  if  he  gave  it  to 
the  mother  direct  she  would  spend  it  for  bakery 
goods  and  sweetmeats,  to  save  work  for  herself, 
and  the  digestion  of  the  children  would  be  spoiled. 
The  relatives,  in  fact,  all  considered  her  intoler- 
ably lazy  and  shiftless. 

Although  the  visitor  put  much  faithful  effort 
into  the  attempt  to  bring  about  better  living  con- 
ditions and  did  succeed  in  making  some  impor- 
tant changes  in  food  habits,  the  house  continued 
41 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

unkempt  and  there  was  no  apparent  improvement 
in  the  mother's  ability  to  handle  money.  A  phys- 
ical examination  disclosed  the  need  of  an  abdomi- 
nal operation,  and  a  bad  mouth  condition.  Six 
months  later,  after  the  operation  had  been  suc- 
cessfully performed  and  the  teeth  extracted,  Mrs. 
Adams  began  to  show  evidence  of  renewed  vital- 
ity and  initiative.  Moved  into  new  and  better 
surroundings  and  given  the  fundamental  instruc- 
tions in  the  choice  of  food,  methods  of  buying, 
and  the  necessity  for  cleanliness,  she  developed 
rapidly  into  a  reasonably  capable  housekeeper. 


42 


Ill 

AIDS  TO  HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD 
MANAGEMENT 

A  LMOST  as  various  as  the  problems  of  bad 
•^  ^  home  management  "encountered  by  the  so- 
cial worker  on  her  rounds  are  the  means  by  which 
they  can  be  met.  Where  the  subject  matter  to  be 
taught  and  the  facilities  available  permit,  group 
work  is  more  economical  in  time  and  effort  than 
individual  instruction.  In  most  cases  the  educa- 
tion in  homemaking  offered  by  the  community  in 
settlement,  school,  or  housekeeping  center  can  be 
used  to  advantage.  Often  the  social  and  mental 
stimulus  of  meeting  other  women  in  a  club  or 
class  is  as  sadly  needed  by  the  mothers  as  the 
instruction  in  cooking,  sewing,  and  household 
management.  When  the  neighborhood  affords 
none  of  these  opportunities  the  women's  own 
houses  have  been  successfully  used  as  meeting 
places  for  clubs  to  study  housekeeping.  A  food 
demonstration,  a  sewing  lesson,  or  a  discussion  of 
43 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

household  budgets  may  be  arranged  for  these 
meetings,  the  social  side  of  the  gatherings  being 
emphasized  even  more  strongly  than  when  they 
are  held  in  a  public  place.  The  serving  of  coffee 
or  tea  may  make  all  the  difference  in  the  minds 
of  the  assembled  housekeepers  between  their  go- 
ing to  a  party  and  going  to  a  class. 

But  even  where  neighborhood  facilities  already 
exist  the  guidance  of  the  visitor  is  still  of  great  im- 
portance. Life-long  habits  are  hard  to  break,  and 
with  the  less  enterprising  wives  and  mothers  a 
new  way  of  doing  the  household  cleaning  or  an 
unaccustomed  food  material  soon  falls  into  dis- 
use if  there  is  no  outside  source  of  encourage- 
ment. Then  there  is  always  the  woman  who  can- 
not be  reached  by  any  means  which  requires  the 
time  and  effort  necessary  to  attend  a  class  or  club 
regularly.  Ill  health,  misfortune,  or  mental  dull- 
ness imprisons  her  within  her  own  walls.  Help 
must  be  brought  to  her  door. 

Thus  the  social  worker,  if  she  were  infinitely 
wise,  infinitely  tactful,  would  need  all  her  wis- 
dom, all  her  tact,  to  meet  the  various  situa- 
tions that  confront  her.  And  no  part  of  the  task 
44 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

of  family  rebuilding  is  more  delicate  than  that 
which  pertains  to  the  treatment  of  home  prob- 
lems. The  visitor  is  dealing  with  those  with  whom 
experience  counts  for  everything,  technical  train- 
ing for  nothing.  This  is  an  entirely  natural  atti- 
tude of  mind,  as  all  the  knowledge  these  home- 
makers  themselves  possess  has  come  from  their 
own  experience  or  that  of  others  who  have  trans- 
ferred it  to  them.  The  nurse  alone  has  a  training 
whose  worth  is  recognized.  She  is  able  to  dem- 
onstrate in  a  manner  that  is  easily  understood 
that  she  has  a  knowledge  superior  to  that  of  the 
mother  herself.  So  the  nurse's  uniform  has  come 
to  stand  in  all  matters  relating  to  health  for  an 
authority  second  only  to  that  of  the  doctor.  Any 
other  home  visitor  must  prove  her  worth.  She 
may  be  a  marvel  of  efficiency  and  possessed  of  the 
wisdom  of  Solomon,  but  if  she  is  young  or  un- 
married or  childless — if  all  of  these,  so  much  the 
harder — her  training  will  count  for  little  with  her 
clients.  She  may  have  the  highest  theoretical 
training  in  child  nurture  and  experience  with 
hundreds  of  children,  but  if  she  is  not  a  mother 
herself  she  will  be  considered  infinitely  less  wise 
45 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

about  the  baby's  food  than  Mrs.  Cominsky  who 
lives  next  door.  The  fact  that  six  out  of  Mrs. 
Cominsky's  ten  children  have  died  in  the  up- 
bringing will  have  no  weight  in  deciding  the  rela- 
tive value  of  the  advice  of  the  two  women.  There 
is  danger,  too,  that  the  mothers  will  consider  the 
visitor's  advice  of  little  value  because  she  can 
have  experienced  none  of  the  hardships  through 
which  they  themselves  have  passed.  The  veteran 
worker  in  other  lines  has  the  same  attitude  to- 
ward the  college-made  expert  who  suggests  bet- 
ter ways  of  doing  the  job  he  has  been  engaged  in 
for  years. 

And,  indeed,  the  outsider  should  be  sure  that 
she  is  right  before  she  places  her  easily  gained 
wisdom  above  that,  however  small,  which  the 
mother  has  won  through  her  hard  experience.  In 
most  cases  each  has  something  to  give  the  other. 
Perhaps  no  more  tactful  beginning  can  be  made 
in  the  discussion  of  home  problems  than  to  let  the 
housekeeper  feel  that  she  has  something  valuable 
to  contribute — an  attitude  on  the  part  of  the 
worker  that  will  not  go  unrewarded. 

There  is  an  occasional  family  that  resents  any 
46 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

discussion  of  household  affairs  as  an  intrusion. 
Fourteen-year-old  Carl  Pularski,  when  asked  to 
keep  his  mother's  account  book,  since  she  could 
not  write  English,  replied  that  he  would  rather 
starve  than  let  anyone  know  what  the  family  ate. 
Occasionally  the  mother  will  reply  with  some 
resentment  to  premature  discussion  of  her  house- 
hold management  that  "she  gets  along  the  best 
she  can  and  goodness  knows  she  has  nothing  to 
waste."  Whenever  time  permits,  the  establish- 
ment of  a  warm  personal  relationship  should  pre- 
cede discussion  of  the  more  intimate  details  of 
domestic  life.  Tact,  sympathy,  and  an  earnest 
desire  to  understand  the  mother's  difficulties, 
freedom  from  personal  prejudice,  and  a  clear  idea 
of  the  ends  to  be  attained,  along  with  a  genuine 
openness  of  mind  and  willingness  to  learn  as  well 
as  to  teach — these  are  the  qualities  to  bring  to 
the  work. 

Usually  in  one  of  the  early  interviews  with  the 
mother  the  subject  of  food  needs  and  dietary 
standards  for  the  family  can  be  discussed.  Per- 
haps the  best  general  method  of  approach  is 
through  inquiry  about  the  health  of  the  children. 
47 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

Health  needs  primarily  determine  standards  of 
living — standards  not  only  of  food,  hygiene,  and 
sanitation,  but  of  household  management  as  well. 
For  it  is  only  through  efficient  household  man- 
agement that  healthful  living  conditions  can  be 
bought  at  the  price  the  women  we  wish  to  help 
are  able  to  pay.  This  approach  can  be  used  not 
only  by  the  nurse,  but  to  very  good  advantage  by 
any  visitor  in  the  family  field.  It  is  entirely  nat- 
ural that  the  visitor,  interested  from  any  of  the 
many  possible  angles  in  the  welfare  of  a  family, 
should  show  a  solicitude  for  the  health  of  its 
members  and  the  physical  and  mental  develop- 
ment of  the  children,  and  that  she  should  discuss 
the  subjects  bearing  upon  these  points  with  the 
mother.  Most  important  among  conditions  af- 
fecting health  are  food,  eating  habits,  sleeping 
arrangements,  and  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
home.  A  natural  opening  is  not  far  to  seek.  It 
is  a  rare  family  in  which  there  are  not  one  or 
more  children  who  are  undergrown,  under-nour- 
ished, tuberculous;  anemia  and  rickets  are  all 
too  common,  bad  teeth  almost  universal. 

In  personal  cleanliness  the  care  of  the  mouth, 
48 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

which  is  the  reception  room  of  so  many  germs,  is 
of  first  importance.  Training  for  children  in  the 
vigorous  use  of  the  tooth-brush  as  well  as  periodic 
visits  to  the  dentist  cannot  be  too  strongly  in- 
sisted upon.  Dirty  hands  and  nails  are  estheti- 
cally  objectionable  at  all  times,  but  at  meal  times 
they  become  a  fertile  source  of  danger. 

The  easiest  point  of  access  the  disease  germ 
can  find  to  the  body  is  through  the  alimentary 
canal,  so  it  follows  that  the  mother  must  be 
taught  cleanliness  in  the  care  of  food  stuffs  and 
of  drinking  water.  It  is  of  vastly  more  impor- 
tance that  dishes  and  cooking  utensils  should  be 
clean  than  that  the  kitchen  floor  should  be  well 
scrubbed.  A  tidy  sitting-room  and  a  kitchen  of 
neat  appearance  often  accompany  cooking  uten- 
sils whose  coat  of  grease  remains  undisturbed 
week  after  week.  Since  the  nasal  passages  offer 
another  easy  means  of  access  for  germs  to  vulner- 
able parts  of  the  body,  a  dusty  carpet  or  curtain  is 
often  more  objectionable  than  an  unwashed  bare 
floor.  If  the  pantry  is  sweet-smelling  and  clean, 
dust  upon  the  parlor  furniture  may  be  forgiven. 

This  order  of  importance  is  too  frequently  re- 
4  49 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

versed.  But  even  in  regard  to  the  care  of  food, 
uncleanliness  is  not  of  equal  importance  in  all 
places.  For  example,  milk  offers  a  rare  medium 
for  the  growth  of  germs  and  yet  it  is  to  be  taken 
without  cooking.  It  is  safe  only  when  handled 
with  the  most  scrupulous  cleanliness,  including 
protection  from  the  air.  Raw  oatmeal  with  a  dry 
exterior  which  offers  little  food  for  germs,  and 
which  is  to  be  boiled  an  hour  or  two  before  it  is 
eaten,  will  probably  be  safe  even  if  it  has  been 
left  in  an  open  package.  The  presence  of  flies  and 
other  vermin  is  serious  not  only  because  they  act 
as  carriers  of  germs,  but  because  of  the  nervous 
strain  resulting  when  they  prey  on  the  body,  as 
is  the  case  with  the  commonly  found  bedbugs 
and  head  lice  and  the  less  common  body  lice. 

We  must  keep  in  mind  that  the  mother  has 
very  likely  never  connected  her  children's  ill 
health  with  these  conditions,  with  the  way  in 
which  they  have  been  housed,  fed,  and  cared  for. 
She  must  be  led  to  make  this  connection.  In 
order  that  she  may  be  able  to  do  it,  the  facts  need 
to  be  set  before  her  as  forcibly  as  possible,  but 
very  simply  and  concretely, 
50 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

We  must  also  remember  that  a  child,  though 
to  the  eye  of  an  outsider  woefully  under  normal 
appearance,  does  not  necessarily  seem  so  to  his 
mother.  He  perhaps  compares  fairly  well  with 
the  other  children  whom  she  has  an  opportunity 
of  observing.  Indeed,  the  worker  herself  may 
find  it  necessary  to  call  up  continually  a  vivid 
mental  picture  of  the  most  robust  youngsters  she 
knows  in  order  to  keep  her  own  judgment  as  to 
normal  physical  condition  from  becoming  warped 
by  the  succession  of  thin,  pale,  undergrown  chil- 
dren whom  her  day's  work  brings  before  her. 

A  particular  child  in  the  family,  obviously  less 
well  developed  than  his  brothers,  as  a  rule  makes 
a  good  starting  point  for  discussion.  A  comment 
on  his  small  size,  bad  color,  or  nervousness  will 
often  start  an  anxious  mother  on  the  full  history 
of  her  solicitude  for  him  and  the  means  she  has 
already  taken  to  bring  him  up  to  normal  condi- 
tion. Her  solicitude,  of  course,  will  greatly  sim- 
plify the  visitor's  task.  It  is  easy  to  teach  one 
who  wishes  to  learn. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  visitor  may  get  only  the 
careless  reply :  "  Oh,  Willie  has  always  been  small 
51 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

like  that.  His  father  was  a  little  man  and  was 
pale  like  that,  too."  To  further  questions  as  to 
whether  he  eats  well  or  not  she  may  say,  "Oh, 
yes,  he  eats  like  anything.  You  should  see  how  he 
eats!"  Even  with  this  unfavorable  opening  the 
visitor  may  go  on  to  inquire  as  to  the  exact  con- 
tent of  Willie's  breakfast,  dinner,  and  supper, 
whether  he  eats  between  meals,  what  time  he 
goes  to  bed,  with  whom  he  sleeps,  how  his  bed  is 
placed,  etc.  When  it  develops  that  he  has  a 
breakfast  of  bread  or  rolls  with  black  coffee  or 
strong  tea;  a  lunch  or  supper  of  the  same  com- 
position; that  he  does  not  like  vegetables  and 
will  not  drink  milk;  that  he  goes  to  bed  at  ten 
and  sleeps  with  three  brothers  in  a  room  with  one 
window,  opening  on  a  court — a  window  which  is 
kept  tightly  closed  all  night;  that  he  gets  up 
cross  and  "cranky"  and  sometimes  goes  to  school 
with  no  breakfast  at  all;  it  often  becomes  clear 
even  to  a  very  ignorant  and  careless  mother  that 
these  habits  are  not  conducive  to  the  best  physical 
development.  She  will  be  probably  in  the  mood 
to  discuss  the  most  obvious  defects  in  Willie's 
diet  with  a  view  to  making  some  change.  Perhaps 
52 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

the  sleeping  arrangements  can  be  gone  over,  a 
plan  made  which  will  permit  not  more  than  two 
persons  sleeping  in  the  same  bed ;  an  earlier  bed- 
time may  be  started  because  of  the  conference. 
Wherever  the  question  of  an  open  window  at 
night  enters  into  the  discussion,  the  amount  and 
kind  of  bed-covering  must  be  taken  into  consid- 
eration. A  talk,  however  convincing,  on  the  de- 
sirability of  ventilation  in  bedrooms  is  lost  so  far 
as  the  practical  effect  is  concerned  if  there  are 
not  enough  comforters  or  blankets  in  the  house 
to  keep  the  family  reasonably  warm  with  win- 
dows open. 

A  state  of  "good  health  "  should  be  understood 
to  include  normal  development  and  functioning 
of  all  organs  of  the  body,  including  sound  teeth ; 
normal  rate  of  growth  for  children ;  maintenance 
of  normal  weight  for  adults;  not  only  the  ab- 
sence of  disease  but  a  high  state  of  vitality  which 
may  successfully  resist  disease.  This  is  a  stan- 
dard difficult  for  the  untrained  mother  to  com- 
prehend. To  her  health  usually  means  absence  of 
illness  sufficiently  acute  to  keep  the  patient  in 
bed.  To  solicitous  remarks  about  Tommy,  who 
53 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

is  obviously  undergrown  and  under-nourished, 
she  will  reply — "Oh,  he  is  fine  and  healthy.  He 
is  not  very  big,  but  I  have  never  had  a  doctor  for 
him  in  his  life."  Careful  inquiry  may  draw  from 
the  mother  herself  the  information  that  she  must 
give  him  a  "physic"  once  or  twice  a  week;  that 
he  had  a  cold  last  winter  that  "hung  on"  well 
into  the  spring;  and  that  he  never  has  an  appe- 
tite for  breakfast.  A  little  personal  examination 
will  be  fairly  sure  to  show  teeth  in  all  stages  of 
decay:  some  rotted  down  to  the  gums,  others 
whose  small  cavities  could  easily  be  taken  care  of. 

Nor  is  it  the  uneducated  alone  who  hold  this 
attitude  of  mind  toward  health  conditions.  One 
intelligent  well-to-do  mother  responds  habitually 
in  the  winter  to  an  inquiry  about  the  health  of 
her  family,  "We  are  all  quite  well,  although  the 
children  have  colds."  The  children  always  do 
have  colds  from  October  until  May,  but  the  mat- 
ter receives  no  attention. 

In  convincing  a  mother  of  her  child's  need  for 
special  attention,  the  standard  of  weights  and 
measures  of  normal  children  given  in  Appendix 
C  has  been  found  exceedingly  useful. 
54 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

Mrs.  Potter,  a  widow  receiving  a  mother's  pen- 
sion, had  supported  herself  and  children,  ten  and 
twelve  years  old,  for  the  two  years  preceding  the 
time  when  aid  was  granted.  A  small,  frail  woman, 
her  own  health  had  broken  down  under  the  strain, 
and  the  children,  left  to  shift  for  themselves  in 
her  absence,  had  fallen  into  the  usual  dependence 
on  delicatessen  and  coffee.  Their  physical  con- 
dition was  very  obviously  below  par,  but  al- 
though Mrs.  Potter  was  above  the  average  intel- 
ligence, she  was  entirely  indifferent  to  the  visi- 
tor's solicitude  for  the  children's  need  of  better 
food  and  care.  She  was  quite  sure  they  were  as 
healthy  and  well  grown  as  other  children  and  re- 
fused to  make  any  radical  change  in  their  habits. 
After  several  conversations  on  the  subject  the 
visitor  showed  her  a  typewritten  copy  of  the  list 
of  weights  and  heights  which  she  always  carried 
in  her  notebook.  The  children  became  interested 
in  getting  their  own  weights  and  measures  and 
recording  them  for  comparison.  The  boy  was  led 
to  join  the  nearest  gymnasium  class;  the  sleeping 
arrangements  and  food  were  modified  according 
to  the  visitor's  suggestions.  When  after  two  years 
55 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

the  family  'again  became  self-supporting,  both 
children  were  almost  up  to  average  weight  and 
greatly  improved  in  general  physical  condition. 

If  the  mother's  objection  to  the  suggested 
change  in  food  is  that  the  child  will  not  desire  it, 
the  best  plan  is  usually  to  appeal  to  the  child 
himself.  Every  boy  or  girl  has  a  standard  of  phys- 
ical beauty  or  strength  and  is  willing  to  forego 
present  pleasure  for  the  sake  of  attaining  it. 
Touch  this  ideal  and  the  child  can  easily  be  in- 
fluenced and  a  radical  change  in  food  habits 
made.  A  boy's  ideal  almost  always  includes  great 
physical  strength  and  prowess.  He  wants  to  be- 
come a  policeman,  a  soldier,  or  an  aviator.  A 
girl  desires  physical  beauty,  red  cheeks,  a  grace- 
ful figure.  Fortunately,  physical  strength,  a  clear 
complexion,  and  grace  of  movement  can  all  quite 
truthfully  be  used  in  an  appeal  to  youngsters  to 
order  their  food  with  more  regard  for  the  needs 
of  their  body  than  for  taste. 

A  juvenile  court  officer  with  only  a  casual  con- 
tact with  a  twelve-year-old  boy  who  was  being 
brought  up  by  his  grandmother  had  entirely  for- 
gotten, when  she  met  the  old  lady  two  years 
56 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

later,  a  conversation  she  had  had  with  the  boy 
about  the  use  of  stimulants.  "You  are  the  lady," 
at  once  declared  the  grandmother,  "who  talked 
with  Harold  about  drinking  coffee.  He  has  not 
taken  it  once  since." 

A  dietitian  talking  with  a  group  of  Italian 
women  on  the  dangers  of  coffee  for  children  was 
informed  by  one  mother  that  all  of  her  children 
drank  coffee  "except  Angelo.  His  teacher  told 
him  it  wasn't  good  for  him  and  now  he  won't 
touch  it." 

The  wife  is  often  quite  sure  that  the  husband 
will  never  be  content  with  any  other  than  the 
foods  to  which  he  has  been  accustomed  and  it  is 
hard  to  reach  him  directly.  In  cases  of  illness  the 
nurse  or  doctor  has  some  opportunity  for  influ- 
encing his  choice  of  food.  Lecturers  who  have 
addressed  numbers  of  workingmen  in  noon  time 
talks  in  factories  or  at  their  lodge  report  that 
they  manifest  considerable  intelligent  interest  in 
the  subject  of  proper  nutrition  and  economical 
expenditure  for  food. 

In  cases  where  the  home  is  clean  and  well  cared 
for  and  the  family  life  apparently  normal  in  spite 
57 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

of  failure  to  measure  up  to  standards  of  physical 
health,  it  is  sometimes  difficult  for  the  visitor  to 
realize  that  the  choice  of  a  standard  of  living  can- 
not be  left  to  the  family  itself.  It  is  often  hard  to 
insist  upon  more  milk,  vegetables,  and  fruit  in 
the  diet,  more  beds  or  better  lighted  rooms,  when 
the  family  considers  the  present  arrangement  en- 
tirely satisfactory.  A  mother  occasionally  com- 
plains that  she  is  compelled  to  buy  more  milk 
than  she  needs.  An  Italian  mother  and  her  seven 
children  were  found  to  be  sleeping  in  two  beds. 
On  the  visitor's  remarking  that  they  needed  more 
beds,  the  twelve-year-old  girl  who  was  acting  as 
interpreter  exclaimed  in  amazement,  "What  for? 
We  just  fit  now."  The  family  that  considers  two 
at  the  head  and  two  at  the  foot  a  fit  is  not  rare. 
Some  women  will  remain  incredulous  about 
even  the  simplest  point  until  a  personal  experi- 
ence brings  it  home.  The  worker  has  only  to  per- 
sist, however,  and  her  point  is  sure  to  be  illus- 
trated sooner  or  later  in  the  experience  of  the 
family,  though  not  often  in  so  startling  and  seri- 
ous a  way  as  was  the  case  with  Mrs.  Remski. 
Mrs.  Remski  with  her  four  children  slept  in  two 

58 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

small  beds  which  almost  completely  filled  a  bed- 
room with  a  single  window  opening  on  a  narrow 
outside  passage  between  buildings.  The  sitting- 
room  was  large  and  excellently  lighted.  The  visi- 
tor suggested  that  a  bed  for  the  mother  and  baby 
and  a  cot  for  seven-year-old  Frank,  who  had  tu- 
berculous glands,  be  set  up  in  this  room.  But 
Mrs.  Remski  said  she  would  not  "feel  right" 
with  a  bed  in  .the  parlor,  which  she  wanted  to 
"keep  nice,"  and  remained  unmoved  by  the  argu- 
ments of  the  visitor  who  at  each  visit  pointed  out 
the  ill  effects  of  insufficient  air  in  bedrooms,  en- 
larging upon  the  danger  of  pneumonia.  After  a 
few  weeks  the  baby  did  fall  dangerously  ill  of 
pneumonia,  and  the  doctor  insisted  upon  hospital 
care  because  of  home  conditions.  In  mortal  fear 
for  her  darling's  life,  Mrs.  Remski  moved  the 
beds  into  the  parlor,  and  there  they  have  re- 
mained. 

In  helping  the  housewife  to  plan  her  expendi- 
tures intelligently  expense  accounts  are  invalu- 
able.  It  is  they  alone  which  give  uncolored  facts 
as  to  how  the  money  has  gone  and  what  has  been 
59 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

secured  for  it.  In  the  writer's  experience  with 
several  thousands  of  widowed  mothers  receiving 
pensions  through  the  Chicago  Juvenile  Court  not 
more  than  two  or  three  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
keeping  household  accounts,  but  after  having 
kept  accounts  regularly  during  the  period  in 
which  relief  was  given  a  large  percentage  of  the 
more  intelligent  women  announced  their  inten- 
tion of  continuing  them.  It  is  exceedingly  de- 
sirable in  cases  where  expense  accounts  are  re- 
quired by  a  relief-giving  organization  that  the 
mothers  themselves  should  see  their  value.  This 
is  not  difficult  for  the  more  intelligent  women  to 
grasp  and  they  are  often  found  working  out  plans 
to  make  them  of  more  value.  One  recipient  of  a 
mother's  pension  keeps  a  separate  account  of  the 
shoes  so  that  she  may  easily  refer  to  it  and  form 
a  judgment  as  to  the  wisdom  of  her  purchases. 
Such  accounts,  moreover,  often  tell  a  quite  differ- 
ent story  from  that  gained  through  conversation 
with  the  mothers.  They  bring  to  light  not  only 
ways  in  which  money  can  be  laid  out  to  better 
advantage,  but  the  pitiful  makeshifts  by  which 
the  family  are  making  an  inadequate  income 
60 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

"do."  When  the  Strains  began  to  keep  them, 
the  charity  organization  agent,  who  was  trying  to 
safeguard  the  health  of  the  frail  mother,  found  to 
her  horror  that  most  of  the  vegetables  the  family 
had  eaten  during  the  past  year  had  been  received 
free  from  a  market  some  distance  away.  In  order 
to  get  them  the  mother  had  gone  to  the  market 
at  four  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  gathered  the 
refuse  from  the  sales  of  the  day  before. 

It  is  sometimes  found  to  be  most  effective  to 
limit  instruction  at  any  one  visit  to  one  or  two 
points,  as  this  prevents  confusion  in  the  mind  of 
the  mother.  A  visitor  who  has  the  supervision 
of  sixty  families  receiving  pensions  from  the  state 
visits  each  of  them  at  least  once  a  month.  She 
marks  a  food  topic  or  a  point  of  personal  hygiene 
to  be  discussed  at  each  round  of  visits.  On  one 
round  the  subject  of  milk  will  be  talked  over  with 
each  mother — how  much  is  being  bought,  how 
much  each  child  is  taking,  etc. — leaving  sugges- 
tions for  additional  quantities  wherever  this  is 
necessary.  In  speaking  of  this  plan  of  hers  she 
said:  "On  the  last  round  I  talked  about  cereals 
and  got  it  straight  just  what  each  family  needed 
61 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

to  do  in  that  respect.  Next  time  it  will  be  vege- 
tables and  fruit.  Very  soon  I  must  see  after  the 
teeth  of  all  the  children,  for  I  am  afraid  some  are 
being  overlooked.  In  this  way  none  fails  to  get 
the  instruction  on  an  important  point  that  they 
all  need.  I  adopted  this  plan  because  I  often  no- 
ticed that  I  let  other  things,  usually  whatever 
was  uppermost  in  the  mother's  mind  at  the  time, 
absorb  the  whole  of  my  visit  and  we  didn't  dis- 
cuss health  matters  at  all." 

This  plan,  if  not  too  rigidly  followed  so  that  it 
reduces  itself  to  a  mechanical  routine,  has  the 
advantage  of  eliminating  the  possibility  of  the 
busy  worker's  allowing  important  matters  to 
drop  out  of  mind.  Perhaps  an  even  better  plan 
would  be  to  keep  a  check  list  of  topics  to  be  cov- 
ered in  each  family  and  mark  them  off  as  cov- 
ered, without  attempting  to  follow  the  same  order 
for  all  families.  Topics  covered  once  could  be 
rechecked  later  for  the  necessary  follow-up. 

In  the  cases  where  intimate  guidance  of  the 
mother  in  the  care  of  her  children  and  the  ad- 
ministration of  her  household  is  necessary,  great 
pains  must  be  taken  not  to  break  down  her  sense 
of  responsibility  or  the  unity  of  the  family. 
62 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

A  friendly  visitor  to  the  family  of  a  Bohemian 
widow  had  looked  very  carefully  after  their  needs 
but  had  overlooked  this  one  until  the  mother 
brought  it  to  her  attention.  Most  of  the  chil- 
dren's clothing  and  a  great  part  of  the  household 
supplies  and  furniture  had  been  bought  by  the 
visitor,  so  that  little  except  the  purchase  of  food 
was  left  in  the  mother's  hands.  The  visitor  was 
inclined  to  feel  hurt,  therefore,  when,  without 
consulting  her,  Mrs.  Rutsiki  bought  her  ten-year- 
old  Bennie  a  pair  of  patent  leather  shoes.  The 
mother  had  for  a  while  supported  the  family  by 
her  own  labor  and  had  laid  aside  at  this  time  a 
few  dollars  of  which  she  had  said  nothing.  When 
asked  why  she  had  spent  this  treasured  reserve 
for  articles  which  would  have  been  supplied  with- 
out hesitation  as  soon  as  the  need  was  brought 
to  the  visitor's  attention,  she  replied,  "You  buy 
everything  for  the  children.  If  I  don't  buy  them 
something  sometimes  they  will  not  think  of  me 
when  they  are  big.  They  will  think  that  I  have 
never  done  anything  for  them." 

Choosing  the  food  for  a  family  by  sending  in 
grocery  orders  may  be  made  to  have  a  definite 

63 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

educational  value  in  teaching  them  the  use  of  new 
food  materials  or  of  a  well  balanced  diet.  Carried 
beyond  the  point  where  it  is  needed  for  this  or 
other  justifiable  purposes  it  becomes  a  factor  in 
the  process  of  devitalizing  the  family  life.  A  good 
general  rule  which  applies  here  as  well  as  in  other 
teaching  is  never  to  do  anything  for  the  pupil 
which  she  can  do  for  herself,  whether  it  be  to 
choose  food  or  clothing  or  to  train  her  children. 
If  the  relative,  friend,  or  neighbor  of  the  house- 
keeper who  cannot  bake  can  teach  her,  the  in- 
struction had  perhaps  best  come  in  this  way. 

Sometimes  an  entirely  new  environment  will 
have  more  influence  than  many  weeks  of  faithful 
effort  in  the  old  environment.  A  settlement  house 
wrote  concerning  a  widow  who  spoke  almost  no 
English:  "Mrs.  Storsky  is  known  to  us  as  a  very 
irresponsible  woman  who  kept  a  very  untidy 
home  and  allowed  the  children  to  stay  at  home 
from  school  for  slight  reasons.  She  is  quarrelsome 
and  frequently  in  trouble  with  her  neighbors. 
For  the  past  ten  years  she  has  been  drinking  to 
a  considerable  extent." 

In  August  Mrs.  Storsky  was  moved  into  four 


HEALTH  AND  HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

light,  clean,  freshly  papered  rooms  with  screens  or 
netting  at  the  doors  and  windows.  The  location 
was  in  the  outskirts  of  the  city,  miles  from  the 
crowded  neighborhood  in  which  she  had  estab- 
lished the  reputation  described  above.  At  the 
time  the  new  rooms  were  entered  the  visitor 
helped  arrange  the  furniture.  Each  child's  cloth- 
ing was  packed  away  separately  and  the  older 
ones  were  made  responsible  for  their  own.  A  new 
stove  was  secured  instead  of  the  one  which  had 
smoked  up  the  former  kitchen  and  would  not  bake. 
The  family  diet  had  consisted  of  a  cooked  meat 
at  one  meal,  sausage  at  another,  and  in  addition 
chiefly  bread  and  coffee.  The  mother,  through  an 
interpreter,  was  given  simple  rules  for  regulat- 
ing the  diet;  the  amount  of  milk  necessary  was 
agreed  upon  and  ordered  from  a  reliable  dairy. 
In  the  April  following  the  removal  the  children 
were  in  good  physical  condition  and  their  school 
report  showed  100  per  cent  in  cleanliness  and 
deportment.  While  no  expense  accounts  could 
be  written  by  the  mother,  visits  at  meal  time 
showed  well  chosen  and  prepared  food  and  that 
regular  meal  times  were  being  observed. 
5  65 


IV 
DIETARY  STANDARDS 

*  I  BURNING  from  the  homes  with  small  in- 
comes  and  from  the  daily  tasks  of  visitors 
in  such  homes,  what  data,  now  at  our  command, 
are  applicable  to  these  tasks?  Scientists  working 
on  food  problems  are  continually  adding  facts  to 
our  working  knowledge  on  the  subject  of  the 
nourishment  of  the  human  body.  It  thus  becomes 
increasingly  possible  each  year  to  formulate  stan- 
dards by  which  to  measure  food  needs  under 
given  conditions.  The  standards  of  today  are 
much  fuller  and  in  some  respects  they  are  differ- 
ent from  those  of  ten  years  ago.  Ten  years  more 
will  doubtless  bring  knowledge  which  will  further 
extend  and  modify  them.  Meanwhile  what  we 
already  know  is  of  enormous  help  in  regulating 
the  daily  supply  of  food  in  such  a  way  as  best  to 
meet  the  requirements  of  the  body. 

Food  needs  follow  laws  of  cause  and  effect — 
not  all  well  understood,  it  is  true,  but  none  the 
66 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

less  inexorable.  Nutrition  could  be  an  exact 
science  if  we  knew  all  of  the  elements  involved. 
It  is  not  through  a  dispensation  of  Providence 
that  one  is  too  thin  or  too  fat  or  otherwise  out 
of  condition  from  under-  or  over-nourishment. 
And  most  such  states  can  be  corrected  if  one  acts 
upon  available  dietary  knowledge. 
The  body  requires  food  material  for: 

(1)  Growth  and  repair 

(2)  Energy 

(3)  Regulation  of  physical  processes 


(1)  GROWTH  AND  REPAIR 

The  baby  makes  his  appearance  in  the  world 
weighing  perhaps  seven  pounds.  If  he  grows  to 
be  a  man  of  average  size,  he  will  weigh  154  pounds. 
Food  must  provide  material  for  the  change  of 
the  tiny  muscles  into  large,  strong  ones,  for  the 
growth  and  hardening  of  bones,  and  for  every 
change  of  tissue  required.  There  is  no  other 
source  of  supply. 

So  long  as  nature  keeps  the  matter  entirely  in 
her  own  hands  it  is  well  done.  Mother's  milk, 

67 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

when  the  woman  is  in  normal  condition,  is  nicely 
adjusted  to  the  needs  of  the  baby's  body.  It  con- 
tains all  the  elements  required,  mixed  in  the  right 
proportion.  But  when  the  food  is  left  to  human 
choice,  blunders  begin — often  through  sheer  lack 
of  attention  to  the  subject,  for  it  is  not  alone 
the  children  of  the  poor  and  uneducated  who 
are  under-nourished.  A  builder  planning  a  per- 
manent building  selects  his  materials  carefully. 
Should  he  skimp  on  quality  of  material  the  house 
will  fall  into  decay  and  be  a  loss  to  its  owner, 
and  he  be  counted  a  foolish  or  dishonest  builder. 
The  poorly  built  body  which  has  been  skimped 
will  also  fall  prematurely  into  decay,  entailing  a 
loss  far  more  serious  than  that  of  a  falling  house. 
Among  the  building  materials  needed  is  one 
which  appears  as  part  of  every  living  cell  in  the 
body.  It  makes  up  also  the  greater  part  of  the 
muscle  tissue.  It  is  called  protein,  and  because 
of  its  importance  in  the  construction  of  the  body 
the  gravest  consequences  follow  an  insufficient 
supply.  Fortunately,  it  is  found  in  all  foods,  as 
it  is  just  as  necessary  to  the  life  of  plant  cells  and 
to  the  body  cells  of  the  lower  animals  as  to  those 
68 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

of  man.  There  is,  however,  a  great  difference  in 
the  proportion  in  which  it  is  found  in  different 
foods.  We  get  an  important  part  of  our  supply 
in  what  may  be  called  a  ready-made  form — in 
lean  meat,  which  is  the  muscle  of  an  animal ;  in 
the  milk  from  the  cow  or  goat  secreted  to  furnish 
food  for  her  young;  in  the  egg,  where  everything 
necessary  for  forming  the  body  of  the  chick  is 
stored.  But  the  cow  that  gives  us  beef  and  milk 
herself  eats  no  meat,  fish,  milk,  or  eggs,  but 
only  grains  and  grasses.  From  their  proteins  she 
builds  up  her  muscle. 

There  are  a  great  many  kinds  of  protein,  some 
of  which  are  known  to  be  incomplete.  That  is, 
they  alone  are  not  able  to  furnish  all  the  protein 
needed  for  growth.  Gelatin  is  one  of  these  and  so 
is  one  of  the  proteins  of  Indian  corn.  Since  our 
present  knowledge  of  the  function  of  the  different 
kinds  of  protein  in  nourishing  the  body  is  imper- 
fect, it  seems  best  to  choose  each  day  some  animal 
food — milk,  meat,  or  eggs — along  with  nuts,  dried 
beans  and  peas,  and  a  liberal  supply  of  cereals, 
in  order  to  insure  a  proper  supply  of  the  different 
kinds  of  protein. 

69 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 
Standards    for    Building    Material    (Protein). — 

Much  controversy  has  been  waged  during  recent 
years  around  the  question  of  the  amount  of  pro- 
tein needed.  The  standard  is  expressed  in  the 
number  of  grams  a  day  which  should  be  in- 
cluded in  the  food  of  a  man.  Chittenden,  in  his 
Nutrition  of  Man,*  published  experiments  which 
he  believed  to  show  that  60  grams  a  day  are 
sufficient.  This  was  cutting  the  old  standard  of 
100  to  125  grams  a  day  in  half.  Sherman, 
weighing  all  of  the  evidence  at  the  time  of  the 
publication  of  his  Chemistry  of  Food  and  Nutri- 
tion^ suggested  75  grams  a  man  a  day  where 
a  low  protein  diet  is  desired,  for  either  physio- 
logical or  economical  reasons,  and  this  amount 
is  commonly  referred  to  as  the  modern  stan- 
dard. 

For  those  unaccustomed  to  measuring  in  grams 
and  unfamiliar  with  the  composition  of  foods 
these  figures  may  be  given  meaning  by  the 

*  Chittenden,  Russell  Henry:  Nutrition  of  Man,  p.  272. 
New  York,  F.  A.  Stokes  Co.,  1907. 

f  Sherman,  Henry  Clapp:  Chemistry  of  Food  and  Nu- 
trition, p.  228.  New  York,  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1912. 

70 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

amount  of  protein  found  in  some  of  our  common 
articles  of  food: 

i  Ib.  lean  beef  contains  about    88  grams  of  protein 

iqt.milk  "  "       32  "  "  " 

i  egg  "  "         8  "  "  " 

1 1 2-oz.  loaf  of  bread       "  "31  "  "  " 

i  Ib.  navy  beans  "  "      102  "  "  " 

ilb.  oatmeal  "  "        73  "  "  " 

ilb.  cheese  "  "      130  "  "  " 

ilb.  peanuts  "  "       41  "  "  " 

What  are  referred  to  as  high  protein  foods  are 
meat,  fish,  eggs,  milk,  and  cheese;  legumes  (dried 
beans,  peas,  and  peanuts)  and  nuts  are  sometimes 
added  to  the  list,  as  these  also  contain  a  large  per- 
centage of  protein;  cereals  also  have  a  consider- 
able percentage,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  amount 
of  protein  in  the  bread  and  oatmeal  given  above ; 
the  amount  in  vegetables  and  fruit  is  very  small. 
Consequently  a  high  protein  diet  has  commonly 
been  understood  to  mean  a  high  meat  diet.  Such 
a  diet  is  not  only  expensive — we  have  every  rea- 
son to  believe  it  will  become  increasingly  so  dur- 
ing the  next  few  years — but  may  also  cause  an 
unnecessary  strain  upon  the  body.  Putrefaction 
in  the  intestines  and  uric  acid  in  the  body  are 
71 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

very  apt  to  result  if  the  waste  products  created 
by  meat  digestion  are  not  promptly  thrown  off. 
Americans  as  a  whole  have  been  in  the  habit  of 
eating  far  too  much  meat — the  scarcity  ahead 
may  mean  better  health  for  the  nation. 

Mrs.  Rose,  in  Feeding  the  Family,*  suggests 
this  plan  of  meeting  the  protein  requirement  in 
a  man's  daily  diet:  One-quarter  of  a  pound  of 
meat  daily  will  furnish  one-third  of  the  amount 
of  protein  needed ;  another  third  can  be  supplied 
by  an  egg,  a  glass  of  milk,  some  cheese,  beans,  or 
nuts;  while  an  additional  third  will  easily  be 
made  up  by  the  cereals,  vegetables,  etc.,  which 
will  form  the  remainder  of  the  day's  food.  The 
same  author  advises  that  children  under  seven 
years  depend  for  high  protein  foods  on  an  egg 
daily  and  free  use  of  milk.  The  cereals,  vege- 
tables, and  fruit  needed  to  make  a  diet  sufficient 
in  quantity  will  furnish  the  remaining  protein 
required.  The  objection  to  much  meat  for  young 
children  is  based  on  the  putrefactive  process 
pointed  out  above,  which  is  more  dangerous  to 

*  Rose,  Mary  Swartz:  Feeding  the  Family,  p.  69.  New 
York,  The  Macmillan  Co.,  1916. 

72 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

the  undeveloped  digestive  system  of  the  child 
than  to  that  of  the  adult;  on  the  stimulating 
effect  of  meat,  which  is  not  desirable  for  the 
growing  organism;  and  on  the  further  fact  that 
the  high  flavoring  of  the  meat  makes  it  difficult 
to  train  the  child  to  eat  foods  with  less  taste 
— cereals,  milk,  and  vegetables — which  should 
form  the  larger  part  of  his  diet.  The  first  ques- 
tion asked  by  the  visiting  nurse  called  in  because 
the  baby  has  convulsions  is  whether  he  has  had 
meat. 

It  was  formerly  believed  that  hard  work  tears 
down  muscular  tissue  so  rapidly  that  a  working- 
man  requires  a  large  amount  of  protein  in  his 
food.  We  still  hear  many  expressions  of  the  view 
that  hard  work  requires  a  high  meat  diet.  That 
there  is  no  foundation  for  this  belief  is  proved  by 
many  experiments;  the  body  is  much  more  dur- 
able than  it  was  formerly  believed  to  be.  Hard 
muscular  labor  can  be  performed  without  greatly 
increasing  the  wear  on  the  muscles  provided 
enough  food  is  taken  to  furnish  plenty  of  fuel  for 
the  activity  needed.  Fats,  sugars,  and  starches 
can  be  used  to  furnish  this  fuel,  and  a  large  in- 
73 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

crease  in  protein  foods  is  not  necessary  for  an 
increase  in  activity.  However,  a  person  engaged 
in  active  muscular  exercise,  particularly  in  out- 
of-door  work,  can  indulge  in  a  high  meat  diet 
with  less  danger  of  harmful  results  than  can  a 
sedentary  person,  because  the  activity  will  nat- 
urally help  to  dispose  of  the  dangerous  waste 
products. 

Mineral  Salts. — These  are  no  less  necessary  in 
the  building  of  the  body  structure  than  are  pro- 
teins. Lime  (calcium)  salts  form  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  teeth  and  bones,  and  are  also  an  essen- 
tial element  of  the  various  tissues  and  fluids  of 
the  body;  iron  is  a  necessary  constituent  of  the 
red  corpuscles  of  the  blood ;  phosphorus  is  neces- 
sary to  the  cells  of  the  body  and  helps  to  give 
rigidity  to  the  bones.  Other  minerals  used  in  the 
body  do  not  give  us  so  much  concern,  as  they  are 
needed  in  amounts  which  are  fairly  certain  to  be 
present  in  the  food  if  enough  protein,  iron,  phos- 
phorus, and  lime  are  present.  More  protein  than 
is  required  puts  an  added  strain  on  the  organs  of 
nutrition  that  often  cannot  be  well  borne,  par- 
ticularly after  youth  is  passed  or  in  early  child- 
74 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

hood.  More  fuel  foods,  such  as  starch,  sugar,  etc., 
than  necessary  will  cause  either  bodily  disorder 
or  excess  of  weight,  which  will  eventually  result 
in  a  lessening  of  efficiency.  But  a  larger  allowance 
of  iron,  phosphorus,  or  lime  appears  to  be  with- 
out harmful  consequences  and  may  even  tend  to 
better  physical  condition.  Shortage  of  lime  or 
phosphorus  may  result  in  imperfect  bone  and 
tooth  formation;  shortage  of  iron,  in  anemia. 
These  deficiencies  in  the  diet,  combined  with 
other  causes,  fill  the  ranks  of  the  poor  with 
rachitic  children,  toothless  young  adults,  and 
anemic  individuals  of  all  ages. 

These  materials  are  perhaps  of  greater  impor- 
tance during  the  period  of  growth  than  later, 
but  there  is  no  time  at  which  the  construction  of 
the  body  is  a  finished  process.  The  same  ma- 
terials which  go  into  its  structure  during  the 
time  of  growth  go  on  being  required  in  relatively 
smaller  amounts  for  purposes  of  repair,  for  there 
is  no  time  at  which  the  body  is  stationary,  and 
the  worn-out  tissues  must  be  replaced  if  it  is  to 
maintain  its  strength.  Milk,  vegetables,  and 
fruits  are  the  most  important  sources  of  mineral 
75 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

salts  and  should  be  used  as  liberally  as  income 
permits.  The  outer  layers  of  grains  are  also  rich 
in  minerals  and  can  be  of  great  help  in  low  cost 
dietaries  where  large  amounts  of  fresh  vegetables 
and  fruits  cannot  be  used. 

Lime  (calcium)  is  frequently  deficient  in 
actual  dietaries,  particularly  in  those  of  low  in- 
come groups.  Its  adequate  supply  is  especially 
important  during  the  growth  of  bones  and  teeth. 
Milk  is  the  best  source  of  supply,  although  fruits, 
vegetables,  and  the  outer  layer  of  the  grain  of 
cereals  contain  a  considerable  amount.  One  pint 
of  milk  contains  enough  lime  so  that  probably  a 
child  who  takes  this  amount  of  milk  daily,  to- 
gether with  cereals,  vegetables,  and  fruits,  will 
have  a  sufficient  margin.  An  adult,  taking  at 
least  half  a  pint  of  milk,  with  daily  use  of  vege- 
tables, fruit,  and  whole  grain  breads,  will  get  the 
amount  needed. 

Iron  frequently  falls  too  low  in  the  ordinary 
dietary.  An  iron  tonic  is  among  those  commonly 
administered  by  physicians.  It  would  be  better 
for  the  health  if  people  looked  after  this  part  of 
the  food  requirement  more  carefully.  Nor  is  all 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

iron  found  in  food  equally  well  utilized  for  the 
nourishment  of  the  body.  Lean  meat  is  rich  in 
iron,  but  of  a  kind  which  is  not  completely  used. 
The  egg  yolk  contains  a  large  percentage  of  a 
kind  fully  used.  Fruits  and  green  vegetables, 
particularly  spinach,  are  valuable  sources  of  iron, 
as  are  also  the  outer  layers  of  grains.  Cabbage 
and  the  root  vegetables,  as  carrots  and  onions, 
have  a  fairly  high  percentage  of  iron.  The  best 
way  of  being  certain  that  enough  is  obtained  in 
the  diet  is  to  allow  as  liberal  a  use  of  vegetables 
and  fruit  as  possible  and  to  eat  whole  grain  breads 
and  cereals.  Although  milk  itself  contains  only 
a  small  amount  of  iron,  it  exerts  a  strong  influence 
on  the  power  of  the  body  to  utilize  that  sup- 
plied by  other  foods,  so  that  its  use  is  important 
in  bringing  up  the  iron  content  of  the  blood. 

Phosphorus  is  less  often  deficient  than  lime 
(calcium)  in  the  dietary  which  contains  enough 
proteins.  But  adequate  protein  does  not  always 
insure  sufficient  phosphorus.  Free  use  of  milk, 
eggs,  vegetables,  and  of  cereals  and  breadstuffs 
containing  part  of  the  outer  layers  of  the  grains, 
will  secure  an  abundance  of  phosphorus. 
77 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

(2)  MATERIAL  FOR  ENERGY 

Food  must  not  only  provide  material  for  growth 
and  repair,  but  fuel  for  the  energy  that  is  used  up 
with  every  movement.  The  amount  of  fuel  food 
needed  depends  upon  the  degree  of  muscular  ac- 
tivity of  the  person  and  the  amount  of  muscle  be- 
ing used.  A  small  engine  does  not  require  as  much 
fuel  as  a  large  one  to  keep  it  at  work.  If  it  is 
worked  at  high  pressure,  more  fuel  is  needed  than 
if  it  need  only  work  at  low  pressure.  Thus  a  large 
man  doing  the  same  kind  of  work  that  a  small 
man  does  will  require  in  general  just  about  as 
much  larger  an  amount  of  food  as  his  weight 
is  greater;  a  man  lying  twenty-four  hours  in  bed 
will  use  up  about  half  as  much  energy  as  he  does 
on  the  days  when  he  is  doing  hard  muscular  work. 

Children,  with  their  intense  bodily  activity  and 
rapid  life  processes,  need  in  proportion  to  their 
size  much  more  fuel  than  does  an  adult.  Their 
heart  beats  are  faster,  their  breathing  is  quicker, 
all  inner  movements  are  more  rapid.  It  is  esti- 
mated that  a  baby  asleep  uses  up  two-and-one- 
half  times  as  much  energy  in  proportion  to  his 

78 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

size  as  his  mother  lying  awake  beside  him.  Tak- 
ing his  day  all  the  way  through,  with  its  activities 
of  crying,  kicking,  and  crowing,  he  uses  about 
twice  as  much  fuel  in  proportion  to  his  size  as 
his  father  who  is  doing  hard  muscular  work. 
Watch  a  group  of  children  at  play  and  note  the 
rare  occurrence  of  consecutive  moments  of  quiet, 
and  the  needs  of  the  child  for  large  amounts  of 
energy  food  will  be  clear. 

If  the  food  does  not  supply  all  of  the  fuel 
needed  for  the  activity  of  the  body,  it  will  burn 
up  its  own  tissues  to  meet  the  deficiency.  The 
reserve  store  of  fat  is  there  for  this  emergency 
and  no  harm  will  probably  result  if  it  is  the  only 
part  of  the  body  consumed.  When,  however,  the 
other  tissues  of  the  body  which  cannot  be  spared 
begin  to  be  burned  up,  the  lack  of  fuel  becomes 
dangerous.  If  a  child's  food  runs  day  after  day 
even  a  little  below  his  needs,  it  means  that  he 
must  burn  up  for  energy  the  material  meant  for 
growth.  Undergrowth  necessarily  results. 

When  more  food  than  is  needed  to  sustain  the 
activities  of  the  body  is  taken,  the  surplus  is 
stored  in  the  form  of  fat,  provided  the  digestion 
79 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

remains  normal.  This  is  the  reserve  of  the  body 
and  it  is  well  to  carry  a  generous  but  not  a  bur- 
densome supply. 

The  foods  on  which  we  depend  to  furnish  fuel 
are  those  containing  fats  and  sugars  and  starches 
—though  protein  also  may  be  used  for  the  pur- 
pose. Cereal  products — bread,  flour,  and  meal, 
as  well  as  breakfast  cereals — and  potatoes  are  our 
most  important  source  of  starch. 

Standard  for  Energy. — The  invention  of  the 
calorimeter,  which  measures  the  amount  of  heat 
given  off  by  the  body,  has  made  it  possible  to 
measure  the  amount  of  fuel  which  needs  to  be 
supplied  by  the  food.  Given  the  weight  and  age 
of  an  individual  and  the  kind  of  work  being  done, 
it  is  possible  to  calculate  with  surprising  accu- 
racy the  number  of  heat  units  required.  Contrary 
to  public  opinion,  mental  activity  does  not  in- 
crease the  need  for  foods  yielding  energy. 

The  unit  of  measurement  is  a  heat  unit  called 
the  calorie.  This  word,  while  familiar  to  the  phy- 
sicist, is  not,  unfortunately,  in  the  vocabulary 
of  the  average  person.  As  it  is  the  only  unit  of 
measurement  which  we  have  to  express  fuel  value, 
80 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

its  use  is  often  necessary  in  discussions  of  foods 
and  the  nutrition  of  the  body.  Public  education 
in  food  matters  would  be  greatly  advanced  by 
willingness  on  the  part  of  educated  people  to  add 
it  to  their  vocabulary.  A  strange  word  should 
certainly  not  be  a  bugbear,  and  there  seems  no 
reason  for  the  difficulty  experienced  in  introduc- 
ing this  one,  beyond  a  distaste  for  allowing  an 
unknown  term  to  be  applied  to  food  which  is  of 
such  universal  every -day  use.  It  is  not  even  nec- 
essary to  remember  that  the  calorie  is  the  amount 
of  heat  required  to  raise  one  litre  of  water  one 
degree  centigrade  in  order  to  use  the  word  intel- 
ligently. Its  practical,  every-day  use  is  to  offer  a 
basis  of  comparison  between  the  amount  of  heat 
a  given  quantity  and  kind  of  food  will  yield  and 
the  amount  needed  for  the  body;  or  a  means  of 
comparing  the  amount  of  energy  yielded  by  a 
given  quantity  of  one  food  with  that  of  another. 
A  convenient  way  of  using  the  term  is  by  the 
loo-calorie  portion,  as  this  amount  makes  an 
ordinary  serving  of  many  common  foods.  For 
example,  a  four-inch  slice  of  bread  one  inch  thick 
yields  100  calories;  so  does  a  medium  size 
6  81 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

potato ;  two  level  tablespoons  of  sugar,  or  one  of 
butter;  five-eighths  of  a  cupful  of  milk;  one  and 
one- third  eggs  of  ordinary  size ;  about  two  ounces 
of  cooked  lean  meat ;  one  cup  of  cooked  oatmeal ; 
one  shredded  wheat  biscuit;  four  Uneeda  bis- 
cuits; one  very  large  orange  or  apple;  four  or  five 
prunes  or  dates;  two  dozen  raisins;  one  medium 
size  banana. 

The  energy  requirement  for  adults  differs  for 
the  two  sexes,  and  varies  according  to  the  size 
of  the  person  and  the  different  degrees  of  muscu- 
lar activity.  Thus,  a  working  man  needs  from 
3,000  to  4,000  calories  a  day;  a  sedentary  man 
(i.  e.,  a  professional  man  or  one  following  such  a 
trade  as  tailoring  or  shoe  making),  from  2,200 
to  2,800  calories.  An  active  woman  needs  from 
2,600  to  3,000  calories  a  day,  a  sedentary  wo- 
man from  1, 800  to  2,300,  and  a  nursing  mother 
from  3,000  to  3,600  calories.  The  requirements 
of  boys  and  girls  of  different  ages  are  shown  in 
the  following  table:* 

*  Gillett,  Lucy  H. :  A  Survey  of  Evidence  Regarding 
Food  Allowances  for  Healthy  Children,  p.  8.  New  York 
Association  for  Improving  the  Condition  of  the  Poor,  1917. 

82 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

CALORIES  PER  DAY 


Age,  Years 

Boys 

Girls 

Under  2 

900-1200 

900-1200 

2-3 

1000-1300 

980-1280 

3-4 

1100-1400 

1060-1360 

4-5 

1200-1500 

1140-1440 

5-6 

1300-1600 

1220-1520 

6-7 

1400-1700 

1300-1600 

7-8 

1500-1800 

1380-1680 

8-9 

1600-1900 

1460-1760 

9-10 

1700-2000 

1550-1850 

IO-II 

1900-2200 

1650-1950 

11-12 

2100-2400 

1750-2050 

12-13 

2300-2700 

1850-2150 

13-14 

2500-2900 

1950-2250 

14-15 

2600-3100 

2050-2350 

15-16 

2700-3300 

2150-2450 

16-17 

2700-3400 

2250-2550 

In  dealing  with  normal,  healthy  individuals  in 
the  every-day  conduct  of  life,  such  calculations 
of  caloric  needs  are  seldom  called  for.  But  they 
are  invaluable  where  rations  must  be  measured 
out,  either  in  food  materials  or  in  money  with 
which  the  food  is  to  be  bought,  and  they  are  fre- 
quently helpful  in  dealing  with  abnormal  physi- 
cal conditions,  such  as  obesity  or  under-weight. 

Fortunately  we  are  not  reduced  to  the  irksome 
task  of  estimating  each  day  the  number  of  calo- 

83 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

ries  we  require  and  calculating  the  amount  of 
food  that  will  furnish  this  amount.  An  adult  in 
normal  physical  condition  will,  if  his  food  is  rea- 
sonably attractive,  eat  the  right  amount  with  no 
other  guidance  than  the  demands  of  appetite. 
Ordinary  observation  of  the  physical  condition 
will  show  whether  too  much  or  too  little  is  being 
eaten.  If  too  much  is  eaten  and  assimilated,  the 
individual  gains  in  weight.  If  the  excess  is  not 
properly  cared  for  by  the  organs  of  nutrition,  dis- 
turbance will  follow  which  usually  becomes  ap- 
parent at  once.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  too  little  is 
eaten  to  allow  for  the  activity,  the  store  of  body 
fat  is  drawn  upon  and  weight  is  lost.  "It  is  ob- 
vious that  the  proper  standard  for  fuel  value  of 
the  diet  is  that  which  will  preserve  the  desired 
degree  of  fatness  while  sustaining  the  desired 
amount  of  activity,"  writes  Dr.  Sherman,*  and 
in  another  paragraph  adds  that  the  average  of 
healthy  men  and  women  keep  themselves  slightly 
too  thin  while  young  and  allow  themselves  to 
grow  slightly  too  stout  as  they  grow  older. 
While  the  high  protein  foods  will  furnish  en- 
*  Chemistry  of  Food  and  Nutrition,  p.  218. 

84 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

ergy,  starch,  sugar,  and  fat  are  the  articles  of 
diet  upon  which  we  rely  for  making  up  a  large 
part  of  the  calories  needed.  To  depend  upon 
meat,  fish,  and  eggs  for  energy  as  well  as  for 
building  material  would  mean  an  expensive  diet, 
and,  as  pointed  out  above,  one  not  conducive  to 
good  health.  Fruits  and  green  vegetables  have 
only  a  low  energy  value.  The  starchy  foods, 
which  are  chiefly  the  cereal  products  and  the 
white  and  sweet  potato,  are  perhaps  the  only  high 
energy  foods  which  can  be  used  in  very  large 
amounts.  Much  fat,  except  in  very  cold  climates, 
is  likely  to  result  in  digestive  disturbances.  Too 
much  sugar,  particularly  if  taken  alone,  will  also 
cause  disturbances.  A  concentrated  sugar  solu- 
tion is  irritating  to  the  stomach,  and  the  amount 
the  kidneys  can  properly  care  for  is  limited. 
Sugar  contains  no  minerals  and  furnishes  noth- 
ing except  fuel.  Used  too  freely,  it  is  likely  to 
displace  other  foods  which  would  furnish  both 
energy  and  iron.  Hutchinson*  sets  four  ounces 

*  Hutchinson,  Robert:  Food  and  the  Principles  of 
Dietetics,  p.  281.  New  York,  William  Wood  and  Co.,  1917 
(4th  Ed.). 

85 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

per  day  as  the  limit  of  the  amount  which 
the  average  man  can  take.  Mrs.  Abel,  in  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Bulletin,*  Sugar  as 
Food,  says  that  three  to  four  ounces  a  day 
may  be  utilized  to  advantage  by  men  at  hard 
work.  It  is  perhaps  safest  to  keep  well  under 
these  upper  amounts.  In  children  under-nour- 
ishment  is  so  often  traced  to  too  much  sugar  in 
the  diet  that  it  is  an  ingredient  whose  amount 
should  always  be  scrutinized.  While  two  ounces 
per  day  will  usually  be  borne  without  active  dis- 
turbance by  a  child,  a  much  lower  daily  average 
of  consumption  is  advisable.  A  safe  rule  for  the 
family  dietary  seems  to  be  two  ounces  for  each 
adult  and  one  ounce  for  each  child.  (One  rounded 
tablespoonful  weighs  an  ounce.) 

Studies  of  actual  dietaries  show  that  where 
cereals  are  not  largely  used  the  food  is  likely  to 
fall  too  low  in  the  amount  of  energy  furnished. 
It  is,  therefore,  well  to  use  this  class  of  foods 
liberally,  particularly  in  the  low  cost  dietary, 

*  Abel,  Mrs.  Mary  W.  H.:  Sugar  as  Food,  p.  23  (Farm- 
ers' Bulletin).  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  1906. 
Washington,  D.  C.,  Superintendent  of  Documents. 

86 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

which  is  often  deficient  in  number  of  calories 
furnished. 

(3)  MATERIAL  FOR  REGULATING  BODY 
PROCESSES 

The  neutrality  or  slight  alkalinity  of  the  blood 
must  be  maintained  in  order  that  the  bodily 
processes  may  be  carried  on  normally.  On  the 
proper  balance  of  the  phosphorus,  lime,  mag- 
nesium, sodium,  and  potassium  in  the  body  de- 
pends this  alkalinity,  and  also  the  elasticity  and 
irritability  of  the  muscles  and  nerves. 

Water  helps  to  regulate  the  concentration  of 
the  mineral  elements  and  to  flush  the  system  of 
waste  through  the  kidneys.  While  water  is  to  be 
had  freely  in  almost  any  civilized  country,  it  is 
by  no  means  to  be  taken  for  granted  that  people, 
particularly  children,  will  drink  as  much  as  they 
should  without  some  attention  to  the  subject. 

Accessory  Factors. — Besides  the  protein,  fuel 
foods,  minerals,  and  water,  other  substances 
called  accessory  factors  or  sometimes  vitamines, 
of  which  little  is  so  far  known,  seem  to  play  an 
important  part  in  the  nourishment  of  the  body. 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

These  are  essential  to  growth,  and  if  they  are  not 
included  in  a  child's  food  in  sufficient  quantity, 
its  normal  rate  of  growth  cannot  be  maintained. 
The  absence  of  vitamines  from  the  diet  of  an 
adult  is  believed  to  be  responsible  for  such  dis- 
eases as  beri-beri*  and  scurvy. 

In  general,  vitamines  are  present  in  vegetables, 
fruits,  and  milk,  and  the  outer  layer  of  grains, 
and  absent  in  dried  foods  and  cereals  made  from 
the  inner  part  of  the  grain — polished  rice,  white 
flour,  etc. 

SIMPLE  RULES  FOR  REGULATING  THE  DIET 

The  dietetic  standards  which  have  been 
briefly  summarized  give  the  basis  for  simple 
rules  of  diet  which  even  the  most  unlearned  have 
no  difficulty  in  following,  and  which  will  help 
them  to  avoid  the  mistakes  most  likely  to  occur 
when  choice  of  food  is  restricted  because  of  low 
income. 

*  Beri-beri,  a  disease  common  in  China  among  people 
fed  largely  on  polished  rice,  is  cured  by  the  substitution  of 
the  unpolished,  which  contains  the  vitamines  absent  in  the 
grain  after  it  is  refined. 

88 


DIETARY  STANDARDS 

For  adults: 

One-half  pint  milk  daily,  more  if  possible. 

Meat  or  meat  substitute  daily.  Meat  substitutes  are 
eggs,  fish,  cheese,  milk,  legumes  (beans,  peas,  peanuts), 
and  nuts. 

Meat  or  fish  at  the  rate  of  about  one-quarter  of  a 
pound  per  day  for  a  man. 

Two  or  three  eggs,  cheese,  an  extra  pint  of  milk,  or  a 
generous  service  of  dried  beans,  peas,  or  nuts  mav  be 
used  on  the  days  when  no  meat  is  eaten. 

Two  to  four  ounces  of  sugar.  (This  includes  the  sugar  in 
molasses,  honey,  syrups,  etc.) 

In  addition,  enough  cereal,  bread,  potatoes,  and  fat  to 
satisfy  the  appetite  and  maintain  bodily  weight  while 
the  necessary  muscular  labor  is  performed. 

Vegetables  or  fruit.  Use  at  least  once  a  day,  more  if 
possible.  It  is  well  to  vary  the  selection  of  vegetables, 
cereals,  and  fruits  as  much  as  possible  and  to  choose 
bread  and  cereals  made  from  the  whole  grain. 

For  children: 

At  least  a  pint  of  milk  daily — a  quart  wherever  possible, 
particularly  for  those  under  seven  years. 

An  egg  daily  or  as  often  as  possible. 

Meat  or  fish,  about  two  ounces  for  a  child  over  seven,  on 
three  to  five  days  of  the  week. 

About  one  ounce  of  sugar — best  taken  in  the  form  of  mo- 
lasses or  fruit  marmalades  or  jams. 

Some  fat — butter  or  bacon,  if  possible,  but  cottonseed  or 
peanut  oil,  oleomargarine,  or  other  butter  substitutes 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

may  be  used,  particularly  if  the  full  amount  of  milk 
with  its  quota  of  butter  fat  is  taken. 

Bread  and  cereal  mushes  in  liberal  amounts  and  generous 
variety,  in  order  that  consumption  of  this  valuable 
food  material  may  be  encouraged. 

Vegetables  and  fruit  daily,  of  a  kind  suited  to  the  age  and 
digestive  powers  of  the  child*;  as  much  variety  of 
choice  as  circumstances  permit,  in  order  that  the  total 
food  consumption  may  be  encouraged  and  the  child 
trained  in  eating  different  food  materials. 


*  See  Rose,  op.  cit.,  pp.  98-150. 
90 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

/CONTRARY  to  the  prevailing  impression,  the 
^-^  choice  of  food  materials  is  an  even  more 
important  function  of  the  homemaker  than  their 
preparation  for  the  table.  On  the  choice  depends 
the  content  of  the  diet  and  its  fitness  to  meet  the 
physical  needs  of  those  for  whom  it  is  intended. 
Skill  in  cooking  can  make  food  materials  more 
appetizing  or  even  more  easily  digested,  but  can- 
not turn  an  ill  chosen  diet  into  an  adequate  one 
if  some  of  the  elements  necessary  to  the  nourish- 
ment of  the  body  are  not  present  in  the  food. 
Ill  chosen  materials,  prepared  with  whatever 
skill,  will  not  make  an  adequate  diet. 

Frequently  the  mother  buys  more  expensive 
foods  than  her  income  allows.  For  example,  she 
may  choose  none  of  the  cheaper  cereal  products 
which  can  be  bought  in  bulk,  but  only  bread,  rolls, 
cakes,  and  ready-to-eat  breakfast  cereals.  Butter 
may  be  the  only  fat  used;  loaf  or  powdered  the 
91 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

only  sugar;  and  the  meat  the  most  expensive  cut. 
In  this  way  the  money  for  food  may  easily  be 
exhausted,  even  when  there  is  sufficient,  without 
having  secured  enough  milk,  vegetables,  or  fruit. 
The  mother  is  also  likely  to  attempt  solely  to 
please  the  taste  of  the  children.  Not  infrequently 
a  widow  falls  into  the  habit  of  sending  children 
as  young  as  eight  or  ten  years  with  a  few  pennies 
to  buy  a  meal  at  "the  store,"  only  telling  them 
to  choose  what  they  want. 

The  food  must  be  chosen  so  as  to  meet  the  die- 
tary standard  required  by  the  individual  family. 
The  factor  which  modifies  most  the  choice  of  food 
required  to  meet  a  dietary  standard  is  the  amount 
of  money  that  can  be  expended.  On  this  depends 
the  ease  or  difficulty  of  the  task.  Take  the  simple 
rules  for  regulating  the  diet  outlined  on  page  89. 
With  a  generous  allowance  a  wide  range  of  choice 
would  be  possible  from  each  division  of  food  ma- 
terials. The  day's  supply  of  high  proteins,  for 
example,  may  be  meat,  fish,  eggs,  or  cheese — 
any  or  all  of  them,  singly  or  in  combination.  The 
meat  or  fish  may  be  chosen  from  a  dozen  different 
kinds  and  cuts  according  to  the  taste  of  those  for 
92 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

whom  it  is  intended.  The  cereal  products  may 
include  the  products  of  any  or  all  the  different 
cereals  prepared  in  numberless  different  ways. 
The  various  kinds  of  breakfast  cereals  on  the 
market,  for  instance,  have  probably  never  been 
counted.  Fats  may  be  cream,  butter,  oils  of  va- 
rious kinds,  besides  bacon  and  other  meat  fats. 
There  are  numberless  varieties  of  confections  and 
of  fruit  conserves,  besides  sugars  and  syrups,  from 
which  to  make  up  the  quota  of  sweets.  To  those 
who  need  not  consider  expense,  our  modern  mar- 
kets, even  in  the  middle  of  winter,  offer  an  abun- 
dance of  fresh  fruits  and  vegetables. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  income  is  so  low  that 
no  more  money  can  be  spent  for  food  than  the 
amount  actually  necessary  to  secure  an  adequate 
diet,  the  greatest  care  must  be  used.  The  choice 
within  each  group  of  food  materials  has  become 
greatly  narrowed.  Feeding  a  family  on  a  mini- 
mum allowance  calls  for  the  combined  knowledge 
of  the  scientist  and  the  practical  housekeeper. 

One  of  the  most  serious  difficulties  which  the 
visitor  to  the  home  encounters  in  her  attempt  to 
educate  the  housewife  to  a  better  choice  of  foods 
93 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

is  the  limitation  imposed  by  the  habits  of  eating 
which  the  family  has  formed.  All  of  us  are  more 
or  less  rigidly  bound  in  the  choice  of  our  diet  by 
the  food  habits  which  have  been  growing  upon 
us  since  the  beginning  of  life.  For  example,  it  is 
difficult  to  change  suddenly  from  white  bread  to 
that  made  of  rye  or  corn ;  a  sudden  change  from 
hot  bread  to  cold,  or  from  cold  to  hot,  creates 
decided  discomfort.  Most  families  keep  within  a 
very  definite  range  of  food  materials.  Where  the 
income  allows  a  margin,  this  range  is  sufficiently 
wide  to  make  an  adequate  diet  possible  so  long  as 
the  food  supply  is  in  normal  condition.  With 
scarcity  of  a  few  foods  which  take  an  important 
place  in  the  dietary,  say  of  wheat,  meat,  potatoes, 
eggs,  even  the  well-to-do  family  suffers  more  or 
less  inconvenience.  Few,  indeed,  in  any  income 
group  have  arrived  at  a  truly  scientific  attitude 
in  regard  to  food,  considering  it  primarily  as  a 
means  of  nourishment  for  the  body,  only  secondly 
as  a  source  of  pleasure. 

In  the  lower  income  groups  experiment  is  pro- 
hibited not  only  by  ignorance  of  food  stuffs  but 
by  the  fear  of  loss  through  the  waste  of  money 
94 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

spent,  so  that  the  range  of  choice  is  very  narrow 
indeed.  A  frequent  answer  of  the  mother  to  the 
advice  to  train  the  children  to  eat  an  unaccus- 
tomed food  material  is — "Suppose  they  won't  eat 
it,  then  I  must  throw  it  away  and  the  money  is 
wasted." 

Those  who  observe  for  the  first  time  the  food 
habits  of  the  poor  are  astounded  that  they  refuse 
so  many  excellent  materials.  Knowing  them  to  be 
badly  underfed,  they  "would  have  thought  they 
would  eat  anything."  One  woman  serving  at  a 
church  dinner  given  for  children  from  a  poverty 
stricken  neighborhood  related  with  astonishment 
that  the  children  did  not  even  eat  the  potatoes, 
which  were  mashed  and  served  in  a  fancy  shape. 
Doubtless  the  children  failed  to  recognize  their 
old  friend  in  this  strange  guise.  The  appetite  of 
the  poor  is  not  reached  through  the  imagination 
— moreover,  they  take  no  chances.  It  is  a  curious 
fact  that  a  strange-looking  vegetable  rouses  no 
curiosity  as  to  its  flavor  or  other  characteristics. 
A  committee  of  women  canning  vegetables  from 
the  surplus  of  the  New  York  markets  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1917  found  that  the  women  in  the  neigh  - 
95 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

borhood  who  were  assisting  would  not  take  home 
the  summer  squashes  which  were  offered  them. 
After  they  had  been  cooked  at  the  public  kitchen 
and  the  women  had  tasted  them,  they  became 
popular.*  The  cooking  teachers  in  the  public 
schools,  whose  experience  has  brought  them  in 
contact  with  various  classes  of  children,  have 
learned  that  those  from  the  poorest  homes  are 
the  hardest  to  please  in  choice  of  dishes.  Pop- 
overs,  hailed  with  delighted  interest  by  classes 
from  liberally  conducted  homes,  are  often  held 
in  scorn  by  children  of  the  poor. 

During  the  winter  of  1916-17,  when  potatoes 
rose  to  12  cents  a  pound,  onions  to  20  cents,  and 
cabbage  to  22  cents,  food  riots  broke  out  on  the 
east  side  of  New  York.  Indignant  mothers  at- 
tempted to  dissuade  all  buyers,  overturned  push 
carts,  and  formed  parades  to  the  City  Hall,  where 
they  demanded  lower  prices.  The  need  for  relief 
was  very  real.  The  elimination  of  these  three 

*  It  is  notorious  that  in  many  poor  countries  where 
mushrooms  are  abundant  the  people  will  not  learn  to  eat 
them — and  a  farmer's  vegetable  garden  is  often  the  scan- 
tiest of  the  whole  neighborhood. 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

vegetables  meant  a  winter  diet  entirely  without 
fresh  vegetables,  for  these  were  the  only  ones 
many  of  them  knew. 

Wheat  flour,  made  into  bread  and  into  maca- 
roni and  other  pastes,  forms  almost  always  a 
large  part  of  the  food  in  a  restricted  diet.  As  the 
money  available  for  food  decreases,  or  as  prices 
rise,  an  increasingly  large  proportion  is  spent  for 
bread.  This  is  because  the  housewife  has  learned 
by  experience  that,  of  the  foods  she  is  familiar 
with  and  which  her  family  will  eat  in  large  quan- 
tities without  protest,  bread  "stays  by  "  or  "gives 
the  most  strength  "  in  proportion  to  money  spent. 

It  is,  indeed,  quite  literally  the  staff  of  life  in 
these  families.  During  the  winter  of  1916-17, 
with  its  abnormally  high  food  prices  and  corre- 
sponding suffering  among  the  poor,  the  amount 
spent  for  bread  was  frequently  50  to  70  per  cent 
of  the  total  expenditure  for  food — sometimes  as 
much  as  a  daily  average  of  10  cents'  worth  of 
bread  for  each  person.  The  visitor  who  received 
from  a  family  of  nine  a  list  of  food  expenditures 
that  contained  $1.00  per  day  spent  for  bread, 
7  97 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

could  not  believe  that  the  family  could  possibly 
eat  so  much.  Yet  a  calculation  of  the  fuel  value 
of  all  the  food  on  the  list  indicated  that  the  diet 
had  contained  only  about  three-fourths  enough 
calories  to  meet  their  needs.  In  many  other  fami- 
lies no  other  cereal  product  than  wheat  is  known, 
though  Irish,  Poles,  and  Germans  will  eat  rye 
bread,  while  families  from  the  southern  part  of 
the  United  States  will  often  use  cornmeal  as  the 
basis  of  their  diet  in  the  same  way  that  wheat 
breads  are  used  by  other  groups. 

If  cereal  is  suggested  for  Tommy's  breakfast, 
the  mother  may  reply,  "My  children  won't  eat 
oatmeal."  This  is  the  only  meaning  the  word 
suggests,  unless  the  family  has  learned,  as  many 
have,  to  eat  the  prepared  breakfast  foods,  usu- 
ally corn  flakes  or  puffed  wheat,  which  are  likely 
to  gain  immediate  popularity,  and  to  make  the 
introduction  of  the  cheaper  and  more  substan- 
tial cereals  difficult. 

When  Mrs.  McGuire's  money  would  no  longer 
provide  meat  for  the  entire  family,  she  bought  a 
bit  of  steak  daily  for  her  husband,  "for  a  man 
cannot  work  without  meat."  Chops  and  steaks 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

are  the  most  popular  cuts  of  meat,  used  not  so 
much  to  save  fuel  and  the  housewife's  time  as 
because  they  are  demanded  by  the  man.  Stews, 
more  or  less  savory  according  to  the  skill  of 
the  cook — sometimes  very  good  ones — are  well 
known  in  practically  every  family,  and  not  infre- 
quently meat  is  served  in  no  other  way. 

Butter  is  too  frequently  the  only  fat  used. 
This  means  that  as  the  money  for  food  grows 
less  in  proportion  to  its  buying  power  the  amount 
of  butter  lessens  or  disappears  and  nothing  takes 
its  place.  When  the  family  is  reduced  to  the  fat 
eaten  with  the  meat,  which  is  often  decreased  in 
quantity  at  the  same  time,  a  diet  too  low  in  fat 
results. 

Sugar  and  the  various  syrups  are  the  most  com- 
mon form  of  sweets,  though  molasses,  which  is 
far  preferable  because  of  its  mineral  content, 
is  commonly  used  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
United  States. 

Breakfast  and  one  other  meal  in  the  day  are  all 

too  likely  to  consist  of  bread  or  rolls,  or  sweet 

cake  alone,  with  coffee.    This  breakfast  is  the 

same  for  children  of  all  ages  as  well  as  for  adults. 

99 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

Eggs,  bacon,  or  steak  may  be  added  in  a  period  of 
prosperity.  The  typical  dinner  is  meat,  pota- 
toes, bread,  and  coffee.  Onions  are  used  chiefly 
for  flavoring,  but  cabbage  is  frequently  added  as 
an  extra  vegetable.  Additional  money  to  spend 
for  food  frequently  goes  into  more  expensive  cuts 
of  meat,  sweets  and  pastry  from  the  bakery, 
pickles  and  catsup,  raising  somewhat  the  fuel 
value  of  the  diet,  but  leaving  it  hardly  less  inade- 
quate in  most  respects  than  before. 

Milk  is  looked  upon  as  a  beverage  and  is  a  less 
popular  one  than  coffee  or  tea.  It  is  considered 
by  the  family  to  be  desirable  for  very  young  chil- 
dren, but  no  longer  really  necessary  after  the 
second  year.  "The  children  are  all  old  enough  to 
do  without  milk,"  said  one  mother  of  children 
aged  four,  six,  eight,  and  ten  years.  One  of  the 
first  cuts  to  be  made  when  retrenchment  is  neces- 
sary is  to  reduce  the  amount  of  milk  or  leave  it 
out  entirely.  Frequently,  canned  milk  only  is 
used.  The  mother  considers  this  cheaper  be- 
cause she  can  make  it  go  further.  She  reasons 
that  a  12-cent  quart  of  milk  will  ordinarily  be 
used  at  one  meal,  while  the  14-cent  can  of  con- 

100 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

densed  milk  will  serve  in  the  coffee  for  a  whole 
day.  Its  keeping  qualities  also  recommend  it, 
as  in  smaller  families  one  can  will  last  for  several 
days.  It  is  difficult  for  the  untrained  mother  to 
believe  that  the  canned  milk  is  really  more  ex- 
pensive than  the  fresh  in  proportion  to  its  actual 
food  value. 

Coffee  and  tea  are  universally  used  and  al- 
most universally  given  to  the  children,  frequently 
in  unlimited  quantities.  Each  child  old  enough 
to  accomplish  it  helps  himself  at  will  at  any  time 
during  the  day  to  the  contents  of  the  coffee  pot 
that  stands  all  day  on  the  stove.  During  an  early 
morning  visit  to  a  Polish  widow  with  three  young 
children  a  four-quart  coffee  pot  full  of  coffee  and 
a  two-quart  metal  pitcher  of  tea  stood  on  the 
stove.  It  was  the  day's  supply  made  in  advance. 
A  German  woman  was  found  by  an  infant  wel- 
fare nurse  feeding  coffee  to  her  three-day-old 
baby  from  the  nursing  bottle.  A  twelve-year- 
old  ward  of  the  Chicago  Juvenile  Court  was  in 
the  habit  of  drinking  nine  to  twelve  cups  of  coffee 
daily.  It  is  well  to  remember  that  such  food  hab- 
its may  have  their  part  in  causing  juvenile  delin- 
101 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

quency.  Dr.  William  Healy,  in  The  Individual 
Delinquent,*  says:  "  It  is  perfectly  clear  that  the 
unsettling  of  the  nervous  system  which  occurs  in 
young  people  by  the  excessive  use  of  these  stimu- 
lants [coffee  and  tea]  is  a  direct  factor  making 
in  many  environments  for  delinquency."  Also, 
"disgust  with  school  work  or  with  steady  employ- 
ment follows  naturally  from  bodily  weakness 
caused  by  inadequate  food." 

Beer  is,  almost  universally,  a  part  of  the  work- 
ingman's  daily  consumption  and  meets  with  no 
reproach.  A  "drinking  man"  is  applied  only  to 
one  who  sometimes  gets  drunk.  ' '  A  workingman 
must  have  his  pint"  is  an  expression  which  can 
be  stretched  to  two  or  even  three  pints  without 
his  wife  or  his  acquaintances  considering  him 
a  drinking  man.  The  workingwoman  may  also 
consider  the  pint  her  right.  Not  infrequently 
beer  or  light  wines  are  given  to  children.  Teach- 
ers report  cases  in  which  the  children  have  come 
to  school  distinctly  under  the  influence  of  liquor, 
but  these  cases  are  comparatively  rare. 

*  Healy,  William:  The  Individual  Delinquent,  p.  280. 
Boston,  Little,  Brown  and  Co.,  1915. 

102 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

So  much  for  the  characteristics  of  a  restricted 
diet  more  or  less  common  to  all  the  various  na- 
tionalities which  the  home  visitor  is  likely  to  en- 
counter. There  are,  however,  distinctive  prefer- 
ences and  prejudices  peculiar  to  each  of  the  for- 
eign groups  which  should  be  understood  by  any 
worker  who  aims  to  influence  their  habits  and 
choices. 

The  woman  who  comes  an  immigrant  from  a 
foreign  country  has  heavy  handicaps  in  her  ig- 
norance of  the  language  and  customs  of  the  coun- 
try. Bewildered  by  the  difference  between  her 
peasant  cottage  and  the  city  tenement  in  which 
she  finds  herself,  she  clings  desperately  to  such 
remnants  of  her  old  life  as  she  can.  If  she  can 
buy,  from  shops  kept  by  her  own  countrymen, 
food  materials  imported  from  her  native  country 
across  the  sea,  she  is  willing  to  pay  the  heavy  ad- 
ditional cost  necessary.  If  she  can  live  in  a  set- 
tlement of  her  own  people  and  not  venture  out 
into  the  perplexing  unknown  world  around  her, 
she  is  content  to  learn  nothing  of  the  English 
language.  We  find  Italian  or  Slavic  women  who 
have  been  twelve  years  or  more  in  America  who 
103 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

speak  no  English  and  have  profited  nothing  by 
such  opportunities  as  were  open  to  them.  They 
have  lost  much  in  leaving  their  old  life,  and  it  is 
hard  to  see  that  so  far  they  have  gained  anything 
to  replace  the  loss. 

Of  the  foreign  groups  found  in  large  numbers  in 
the  United  States,  the  Italians  have  the  most  dis- 
tinctive diet,  since  not  only  are  the  methods  of 
preparation  peculiar,  but  many  of  the  food  ma- 
terials are  different  from  those  used  by  other 
peoples.  Wheat  bread,  macaroni,  and  other 
pastes,  with  farina — all  wheat  products — are 
used  in  large  quantities.  Rye  bread  is  eaten  by 
some  families,  and  cornmeal  is  known  to  those 
from  the  southern  part  of  Italy,  but  the  latter 
seems  to  be  employed  only  in  small  amounts,  and 
frequently  to  have  fallen  entirely  into  disuse. 
Other  cereal  grains,  such  as  oats,  are  considered 
food  for  animals,  not  for  human  beings. 

The  Italian  family  is  content  with  very  little 
meat,  sometimes  none  at  all.  The  cheaper  cuts 
of  beef  chiefly  are  used,  although  pork  chops  are 
popular.  Instead  of  meat,  dry  Roman  cheese  was 
eaten  almost  daily  in  most  families  before  war 
104 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

prices  became  prohibitive.  Fish  and  eggs  are 
popular,  but  milk  is  used  in  even  smaller  amounts 
than  in  most  other  families.  One  pint  daily  for  a 
family  of  five  or  six  children  is  not  unusual.  This 
peculiarity  is  ascribed  by  some  workers  to  the 
difference  between  the  cow's  milk  available  here 
and  the  goat's  milk  to  which  they  are  accus- 
tomed in  Italy.  Some  families  are  said  to  pride 
themselves  on  the  fact  that  they  have  never 
bought  milk  in  America  because  it  is  so  inferior  to 
that  to  which  they  are  accustomed. 

Their  diet  is,  however,  rich  in  vegetables,  in- 
cluding many  varieties  of  greens  peculiar  to  them- 
selves as  well  as  those  found  in  other  markets.  It 
is  surprising  that  they  know  carrots  only  as  fla- 
voring, parsnip  and  rhubarb  not  at  all,  while  arti- 
chokes are  used  at  least  occasionally  even  by  the 
poorest  families,  as  is  also  cauliflower.  However, 
the  family  in  the  Italian  district  does  not  pay  the 
fancy  prices  for  these  luxuries  that  are  customar- 
ily paid.  The  dealer  has  usually  bought  them  at 
bargain  prices.  The  proprietor  of  a  small  gro- 
cery in  the  neighborhood  of  Hull  House  may  be 
seen  late  each  day  returning  from  his  trip  to  the 
105 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

wholesale  market  at  South  Water  Street  with  a 
load  of  green  vegetables  whose  first  freshness  is 
obviously  gone.  When  they  are  displayed  on  the 
pavement  the  next  morning,  however,  they  make 
a  brave  showing  in  the  renewed  crispness  his 
process  of  freshening  has  given.  He  lives  in  the 
rear  rooms  of  the  building,  and  his  wife  takes  care 
of  his  business  in  his  absence.  There  are  no  de- 
liveries. He  can  easily  sell  much  cheaper  than 
the  American  grocery  a  few  blocks  away.  He 
will  sell  you  imported  olive  oil  also,  either  in  a 
can  or  loose  from  the  barrel,  at  about  20  per  cent 
less  than  you  can  buy  it  elsewhere.  This  oil  is 
the  chief  form  of  fat  used  by  the  Italian  families, 
though  lard  is  employed  in  cooking,  and  they 
sometimes  buy  butter. 

To  the  Italian  also  fruit  means  little  else  than 
oranges,  bananas,  and  apples,  although  his  shop 
will  contain  figs — to  be  eaten  raw — and  dates. 
Prunes  are  the  only  other  dried  fruit  commonly 
used,  but  the  dried  black  olive  makes  a  valuable 
addition  to  the  diet. 

The  dietary  of  the  Italian  laborer  when  at  its 
best  is  rich  in  variety.  Because  of  his  fondness 
106 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

for  vegetables  and  fruits,  it  is  high  in  mineral 
salts  other  than  lime,  which  the  small  amount  of 
milk  he  consumes  probably  leaves  deficient.  If 
there  is  sufficient  food  to  meet  the  requirements 
for  energy,  there  will  also  be  enough  protein  to 
meet  the  modern  dietetic  standard,  as  the  bread 
and  macaroni  are  made  from  the  hard  flours  with 
a  high  protein  content,  and  the  cheese  contains  a 
large  proportion. 

At  its  worst,  however,  as  it  has  become  in 
many  families  of  low  paid  workingmen  since  war 
prices  have  prevailed,  the  Italian  family  dietary 
is  decidedly  deficient.  When  the  price  of  Roman 
cheese  became  prohibitive  at  $1.35  per  pound, 
especially  after  most  grocers  refused  to  sell  less 
than  25  cents'  worth,  it  was  simply  left  out  in 
most  cases,  with  no  substitute  provided,  as  the 
families  had  not  learned  to  use  American  or  store 
cheese,  which  was  selling  at  30  cents  per  pound. 
The  customary  diet  became  in  many  families, 
during  the  winter  of  1916-17,  two  meals  of  bread 
and  coffee,  with  macaroni  and  white  beans  for 
the  third  meal,  and  meat  and  vegetables  for  only 
very  occasional  use.  A  diet  as  restricted  as  this 
107 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

is  practically  certain  to  result  in  too  little  food 
being  taken,  even  though  the  supply  were  suffi- 
cient. Who  could  go  on  eating  bread,  beans,  and 
macaroni  day  after  day  and  take  enough  to  meet 
the  needs  of  the  body?  Even  if  this  were  accom- 
plished, there  would  still  be  a  deficiency  in  min- 
eral salts,  a  lack  of  vitamines,  and  an  excess  of 
acid-producing  foods. 

Although  the  Italian  dietary  at  its  best  is 
reasonably  well  adapted  to  adults,  it  is  even  then 
woefully  ill  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  little 
ones,  who  so  often,  in  this  as  in  other  foreign 
groups,  are  given  exactly  the  same  food  as  their 
parents.  Little  Louisa,  referred  as  a  case  of 
under-nourishment  by  the  school  authorities  to  a 
society  which  furnishes  dietetic  instruction  in  the 
homes,  was  found  to  belong  to  a  family  of  six 
with  an  aggregate  income  (from  the  father  and 
two  working  children)  of  over  $30  per  week.  The 
home  had  a  comfortable  appearance  and  there 
was  no  apparent  effort  to  save  unduly  on  food  ex- 
penditure. During  the  first  interview  the  mother 
seemed  interested  in  the  child's  need  for  special 
diet,  which  was  emphasized  by  the  dietitian,  and 
1 08 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

promised  to  add  an  egg  to  her  breakfast.  The 
child  herself  agreed  to  drink  two  cups  of  milk 
daily  despite  her  professed  dislike  for  it.  Before 
the  next  visit,  however,  a  decision  had  been 
reached  by  family  council  or  parental  decree 
which  caused  the  mother,  in  spite  of  an  obvious 
reluctance  to  appear  discourteous,  to  settle  the 
whole  matter  with  "Louisa  eats  what  the  family 
eats,"  and  Louisa  excused  herself  from  perform- 
ing her  promise  about  the  milk,  "I  eat  what  my 
family  eats."  In  this  and  other  cases  observed 
there  even  seemed  to  be  in  the  minds  of  the  pa- 
rents a  principle  involved.  The  children  must 
not  be  spoiled  by  the  undue  indulgence  of  having 
any  dietary  concession  made  to  them. 

The  Polish  diet  differs  from  the  American  less 
than  the  Italian,  as  its  differences  lie  chiefly  in  the 
manner  of  preparation  of  food.  When  some  cook- 
ing demonstrations  for  Polish  women  were  being 
planned,  a  Polish  woman  interested  said,  "What- 
ever you  do,  make  it  taste  Polish.  Put  cabbage 
in." 

They  are  perhaps  the  heaviest  meat  eaters  of 
all  the  groups.  It  is  not  unusual  for  the  Polish 
109 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

laborer  to  order  his  landlady,  who  gives  him  a  bed, 
does  his  washing,  buys  and  cooks  his  meals — all 
for  $2.00,  $3.00,  or  $4.00  per  month — to  buy  a 
pound  of  meat  for  his  dinner.  Meat  also  prob- 
ably figures  in  both  of  his  other  meals,  frequently 
in  the  form  of  sausage.  The  bread  is  partly  rye 
and  partly  wheat,  and  some  macaroni  is  used, 
but  almost  no  other  grain  product.  Vegetables 
and  fruits  are  little  eaten,  and  as  Poles  do  not 
care  for  several  foods  cooked  together,  even  stews 
are  likely  to  be  free  from  vegetables. 

The  following  three  days'  expense  account 
from  a  Polish  family  consisting  of  man,  woman, 
and  four  children,  is  typical  in  its  restricted  va- 
riety and  high  meat  content  of  the  food  habits 
of  many  families : 


Friday 
2  breads 
i  y*  biscuits 
2  quarts  milk 
K  doz.  eggs 
^  Ib.  cheese 
6  herrings 
i  pk.  pota- 
toes 
2  Ibs.  coffee 

•15 
.18 
.16 
•15 
•15 
•30 

•36 
.60 

Saturday 
2  breads 
iK  biscuits 
2  cakes 
K  Ib.  butter 
2  quarts  milk 
2%  Ibs.  sau- 
sage 
pork  chops 
i  jelly 
pickles 

no 

•15 
.18 

•13 
.18 
.16 

•38 
•30 
•15 

.10 

Sunday 
bread 
pie 
cakes 
spaghetti 
bacon 
pork  roast 
pork  sausage 
tomatoes 
cucumbers 

.10 
.14 

•30 
.10 
.10 
1.19 

•30 
.10 

•15 

CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

It  is  evident  from  the  foregoing  pages  that 
whatever  may  be  the  national  or  individual  pe- 
culiarities of  the  family  whose  standards  the 
home  visitor  is  seeking  to  improve,  in  almost  all 
cases  such  mistakes  as  the  following  will  need  to 
be  corrected : 

1.  The  diet  too  restricted  in  variety. 

2.  Not  enough  milk. 

3.  Too  much  tea  and  coffee — the  children  shar- 
ing in  it. 

4.  Too  much  meat,  or  at  any  rate  more  than  is 
necessary. 

5.  Too  much  sugar. 

6.  Too  few  vegetables  and  fruits,  their  places 
often  being  taken  by  pickles  and  relishes. 

7.  Too  little  fat. 

To  the  correction  of  these  errors,  then,  the 
home  visitor  should  especially  address  herself. 
The  primary  need  will  be  to  enlarge  the  variety 
of  the  diet.  In  cheap  dietaries  this  is  the  more 
necessary  because  the  choice  is  greatly  limited. 
There  are,  however,  several  possibilities  for  en- 
larging the  variety  without  increasing,  sometimes 
even  as  a  means  of  decreasing,  the  cost.  This 
ill 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

principle  of  increasing  variety  should  be  applied 
to  the  choices  within  each  group  of  food  products 
— the  high  protein  group,  the  fuel  group,  and  the 
group  whose  special  importance  is  in  the  salts, 
vitamines,  etc.,  which  they  furnish. 

It  is  well  to  provide  first  of  all  for  the  quantity 
of  milk  considered  desirable,  as  this  is  the  most 
important  article  of  food  in  the  diet  of  growing 
children.  As  suggested  on  page  89,  at  least  one 
pint  of  milk  should  be  provided  for  each  child 
daily,  and  one-half  pint  for  an  adult.  The  choice 
in  other  high  protein  foods  will  be  limited  to  the 
cheaper  cuts  of  beef,  mutton,  and  pork,  cheaper 
kinds  of  fish  and  cheese,  with  eggs,  except  for 
children  and  invalids,  only  occasionally  save  in 
the  seasons  when  the  price  falls  as  low  in  propor- 
tion as  the  cheaper  cuts  of  meat.  One-half  dozen 
eggs  are  counted  as  the  nutritive  equivalent  of  one 
pound  of  meat.  The  legumes,  dried  beans,  peas, 
and  peanuts,  can  be  depended  upon  to  furnish 
the  high  protein  food  one  or  more  days  in  the 
week.  It  is  important  that  these  be  chosen  in  as 
great  variety  as  possible  in  order  to  help  break 
the  monotony  of  the  diet.  All  of  the  kinds  avail- 

112 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

able  in  the  locality  should  be  used  occasionally. 
This  not  only  gives  variety  to  the  diet  but  en- 
ables the  housekeeper  to  choose  those  which  hap- 
pen to  be  cheapest  at  the  time  she  is  buying.  In- 
stead of  always  using  navy  beans,  for  instance, 
the  mother  should  teach  her  family  to  eat  kid- 
ney, lima,  black,  and  Brazilian  beans,  and  green 
and  yellow  split  and  whole  peas,  with  such  addi- 
tional kinds  as  are  available. 

Cereal  products  must,  in  a  cheap  dietary,  be 
depended  upon  to  furnish  a  large  proportion  of 
the  energy  value  of  the  diet,  as  these  give  the 
highest  number  of  calories  in  proportion  to  cost. 
Instead  of  bread,  rolls,  and  other  delicatessen 
products  alone,  there  are  usually  at  least  a  half 
dozen  cereal  products  on  the  market  which  can 
be  bought  in  bulk  at  about  one-half  to  one-fourth 
the  price  of  the  foods  they  displace.  Studies  of 
low  cost  dietaries  have  shown  that  failure  to 
meet  the  energy  requirements  of  the  family  is 
very  frequently  associated  with  scanty  use  of 
cereals.  It  is,  therefore,  wise  to  urge  their  con- 
sumption in  as  large  and  varied  a  quantity  as 
possible  for  families  which  show  signs  of  under- 
8  113 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

nourishment.  But  even  here  the  choice  must  be 
more  or  less  limited.  All  of  the  cereal  grains — 
wheat,  corn,  rye,  barley,  and  rice — are  within  the 
reach  of  the  woman  who  wishes  to  feed  her 
family  on  a  minimum  allowance.  She  must, 
however,  forego  elaborations  of  these  materials. 
Most  of  the  breakfast  cereals,  particularly  the 
prepared  ready- to-eat  kinds,  "package  goods," 
furnish  far  less  for  the  money  than  those  sold  by 
the  pound.  In  most  cases  these  latter  will  be 
oatmeal,  cornmeal,  hominy,  farina,  barley,  rice, 
and  cracked  wheat,  to  be  used  in  soups,  stews, 
and  puddings,  as  well  as  in  the  morning's  por- 
ridge or  mush  to  be  served  with  milk  or  syrup. 
Graham  flour  also  makes  an  acceptable  mush. 
The  cost  of  fuel  needed  in  cooking  these  cereals 
as  mush  will  add  somewhat  to  the  cost  during  the 
time  of  the  year  when  a  separate  fire  is  necessary 
for  the  purpose.  During  eight  or  nine  months  of 
the  year,  however,  this  need  not  be  considered,  as 
the  same  fire  which  warms  the  flat  can  be  utilized 
for  cooking. 

In  fats  the  difference  in  cost  between  different 
kinds  of  approximately  the  same  energy  value  is 
114 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

very  great.  One  pound  of  butter  or  of  oleomar- 
garine yields  about  3,000  calories,  but  the  oleo- 
margarine costs  about  half  as  much.  One  pound 
of  lard  or  of  suet  yields  about  4,000  calories  and 
costs  one-half  to  one-third  as  much  as  butter. 
Olive  oil  at  customary  prices  is  about  equal  in 
price  per  calorie  to  butter,  while  cottonseed  oil 
may  be  compared  with  oleomargarine.  Butter 
contains,  however,  a  part  of  the  vitamines  of  the 
milk  from  which  it  is  made,  so  that  other  fats  are 
not  "just  as  good,"  particularly  for  the  growing 
child.  If  his  diet  contains  one  pint  to  one  quart 
of  milk,  with  its  proportion  of  butter  fat,  butter 
may  be  replaced  by  the  cheaper  fats,  enough  of 
which  are  better  than  an  insufficient  amount  of 
butter. 

The  restriction  in  the  choice  of  vegetables  and 
fruits  is  perhaps  greater  than  in  any  one  division 
of  food  stuffs.  During  the  winter  months  the 
only  vegetables  that  usually  can  be  added  to  the 
cheap  dietary  are  the  root  vegetables — carrots, 
parsnips,  rutabaga,  turnips,  cabbage,  onions — 
besides  the  potato  and  sweet  potato.  These  may 
be  supplemented  by  dried  vegetables  which  no 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

doubt  will  come  into  more  general  use  during  the 
next  few  years  and  be  more  generally  available  at 
a  low  cost.  Canned  vegetables  are  usually  pro- 
hibitive at  regular  price,  with  perhaps  the  excep- 
tion of  the  tomato.  During  the  summer  months 
this  list  may,  of  course,  be  enlarged  by  a  number 
of  fresh  vegetables  in  each  season.  In  most  lo- 
calities lettuce,  spinach,  kale,  and  other  greens, 
string  beans,  green  peas,  come  within  reach  for 
several  months  during  the  year.  Rhubarb  is  very 
valuable  during  the  spring  and  summer  months. 
In  the  winter  the  fruits  must  be  largely  dried 
fruits,  except  during  the  fortunate  years  when 
apples  remain  cheap  until  late  in  the  winter.  "An 
apple  a  day  for  every  child  "  is  an  excellent  health 
rule  and  can  be  followed  by  the  housewife  on  low 
income  so  long  as  apples  can  be  bought  at  35 
cents  a  peck  or  less.  Above  that  the  dried  fruits 
are  preferable  for  regular  use.  A  variety  of  these 
are  available  besides  the  commonly  known  prune. 
Dried  apples,  apricots,  raisins,  currants,  figs, 
dates,  all  give  fairly  good  value  in  energy  in  pro- 
portion to  the  money  spent,  besides  adding  min- 
eral salts  to  the  diet. 

116 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

During  the  summer  there  are  frequently  pe- 
riods when  the  supply  of  berries,  plums,  peaches, 
grapes,  or  other  perishable  fruits  bring  them 
within  the  reach  of  the  lowliest  buyer.  Bananas 
at  the  price  at  which  they  are  commonly  sold, 
about  5  cents  per  pound,  are  a  fairly  good  invest- 
ment as  an  energy  producing  food.  They  have  a 
fairly  high  caloric  value  because  of  the  starch  and 
sugar,  but  the  mineral  content  is  not  so  great  as 
that  of  most  other  fruit.  In  the  diet  they  should 
perhaps  be  considered  as  a  substitute  for  potatoes 
rather  than  for  apples,  a  pound  of  bananas  yield- 
ing 290  calories,  while  a  pound  of  potatoes  con- 
tains 300. 

Many  attractive  forms  of  sweets  cannot  enter 
into  the  choice  of  the  woman  who  has  only  a  mini- 
mum allowance  for  food.  Sugar  gives  a  large 
number  of  calories  in  proportion  to  the  money 
expended,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  tendency 
pointed  out  on  page  85  to  let  it  displace  foods 
furnishing  iron  and  other  minerals,  it  would  be 
one  of  the  chief  articles  of  the  cheap  dietary. 
Where  molasses  can  be  obtained  at  a  low  price, 
it  can  be  used  with  less  danger  than  refined  sugar. 
117 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

One  of  the  safest  and  best  ways  of  including  sugar 
in  the  diet  is  through  home-made  jams  and  mar- 
malades made  from  the  whole  of  the  fruit. 

In  the  matter  of  choice  of  food,  then,  the  chief 
functions  of  the  visitor  to  the  home  may  be  thus 
briefly  summed  up.  She  should  teach: 

From  the  Standpoint  of  Nutrition 

1.  The  importance  of  extending  the  variety  of  foods 
purchased,  in  each  class  of  products,  to  the  utmost  extent 
possible,  as  a  means  of  increasing  the  attractiveness  and 
healthfulness  of  the  diet. 

2.  The  place  of  milk  in  the  diet,  bringing  up  its  con- 
sumption to  at  least  the  minimum  standard  suggested  on 
page  89. 

3.  The  effect  of  stimulants  on  the  growing  organism, 
breaking  the  habit  of  coffee  and  tea  drinking  for  children. 

4.  The  place  of  meat  and  the  foods  that  can  be  sub- 
stituted for  it.    Where  there  are  young  children,  the 
amount  of  meat  can  usually  be  reduced  and  that  of  milk 
and  eggs  increased.    In  localities  where  fish  is  cheaper 
than  meat,  its  use  may  be  increased. 

5.  The  place  of  sugar  and  the  dangers  of  its  overuse. 
How  to  reduce  the  amount  used  by  substituting  in  part 
molasses  and  combinations  of  sugar  with  fruit  in  jam  and 
marmalade. 

6.  The  importance  of  fruits  and  vegetables  in  the  diet 
and  the  necessity  of  augmenting  the  quantities  used. 

7.  The  importance  of  an  adequate  amount  of  fat,  in- 

118 


CHOICE  OF  FOODS 

creasing  the  quantity  where  necessary  by  the  substitu- 
tion of  cheaper  kinds  for  the  butter  or  olive  oil  being  used. 
8.  The  importance  of  training  children  while  young  in 
good  food  habits  and  the  responsibility  of  the  mother  for 
this  important  part  of  her  work. 

From  the  Standpoint  of  Economy 

1.  Cereal  products  are  the  foods  which  give  the  largest 
returns  for  money  spent.    The  different  kinds — raw — are 
about  equal  to  one  another,  pound  for  pound. 

2.  The  housekeeper  pays  well  for  every  bit  of  work 
done  on  the  food  she  buys.    The  baker  or  the  manufac- 
turer of  cooked  and  otherwise  elaborated  food  stuffs  gets 
his  pay  for  the  work  and  the  advertising  done  by  raising 
the  price  of  his  product.    Examples:  ready-to-eat  cereals, 
boiled  ham,  jelly,  loaf  sugar,  canned  goods.    The  cheap- 
est way  in  which  to  buy  food  materials  is  in  their  simplest 
form,  raw,  for  home  preparation. 

3.  Food  stuffs  in  packages  cost  more,  not  only  because 
of  the  cost  of  the  package,  but  almost  always  for  adver- 
tising as  well.    Many  foods  sold  in  packages  can  safely  be 
bought  in  bulk  from  a  reliable  dealer.    Examples:  cereals 
which  require  prolonged  cooking,  dried  fruits  which  can 
be  washed  before  cooking. 

4.  In  choosing  meats  for  economy  the  amount  of  refuse 
must  be  considered  as  well  as  the  cost  per  pound.    The 
cheapest  is  that  which  gives  the  most  lean  meat  in  propor- 
tion to  money  spent,  as  a  pound  of  lean  from  one  cut  is 
approximately  equal  in  food  value  to  a  pound  from  any 
other. 

119 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

5.  What  is  called  "quality"  by  food  dealers  is  often 
based  upon  flavor,  beauty,  or  other  elements  of  attrac- 
tiveness, instead  of  on  nutritive  value.  Examples:  small 
gram  or  broken  rice  is  equal  in  food  value  to  an  equal 
weight  of  rice  with  large,  even  grains;  expensive  cheeses, 
valued  for  their  flavor,  are  not  superior  in  food  value  to 
cheaper  ones;  olive  oil  is  not  higher  in  nutritive  value 
than  cottonseed  or  peanut  oil. 


120 


VI 

PURCHASE,  PREPARATION,  AND 
SERVING 

PURCHASE  OF  SUPPLIES 

THE  mother  is  frequently  found  buying  sup- 
plies, not  only  food  and  fuel,  but  household 
supplies  as  well,  each  day  in  amounts  to  last  for 
the  day  only.  She  is  paying  in  this  way  a  much 
higher  rate  for  her  staples  than  would  be  neces- 
sary if  they  were  bought  in  larger  amounts.  Coal 
by  the  pail  has  been  found  on  weighing  to  cost 
one  and  one-half  to  two  times  as  much  as  when 
bought  by  the  ton.  It  is  desirable  not  only  to  es- 
tablish the  habit  of  choosing  suitable  food  ma- 
terial within  the  scope  of  the  amount  of  money  to 
be  spent,  but  to  buy  in  the  most  advantageous 
manner.  This  practically  always  means  buying 
in  as  large  amounts  as  storage  facilities  and  the 
nature  of  the  material  permit.  The  beginning 
can  usually  be  made  in  a  weekly  bill  of  staples — 
sugar,  flour,  rice,  cereals,  etc. — when  the  money 

121 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

comes  in;  later,  plans  can  be  laid  for  longer 
periods.  Even  when  the  money  comes  in  at  short 
intervals,  with  more  or  less  irregularity,  as  when 
the  mother  does  day's  work,  it  is  possible  to  plan 
purchases  for  the  week  or  month.  In  normal 
times  the  winter's  coal,  wherever  there  are  stor- 
age facilities,  can  be  bought  during  the  summer 
when  living  expenses  as  well  as  the  price  of  coal 
are  lower. 

It  is  often  necessary  to  work  out  with  the 
mother  careful  and  far-reaching  plans  for  extri- 
cating her  from  the  clutches  of  the  corner  grocer 
from  whom  she  has  long  bought  "on  the  book" 
and  to  whom  she  may  be  deeply  in  debt.  If  the 
grocer  is  an  Italian  or  Pole,  probably  the  only  ac- 
count he  gives  his  customers,  many  of  whom  are 
completely  ignorant  of  arithmetic,  is  a  row  of 
figures  in  a  blank  book.  Thus, 

.69 

.85 

i. 20 

•35 

.28 

The  prices  charged  are  necessarily  high,  as  many 
of  these  accounts  are  never  paid  in  full  and  it  is 

122 


PURCHASE  AND  PREPARATION 

not  unusual  for  the  grocer  to  carry  a  family  from 
three  to  six  months  during  a  period  of  unemploy- 
ment or  illness,  expecting  to  get  his  money  in  bits 
after  the  man  goes  back  to  work.  Moreover,  too 
often  the  grocer  in  the  poorest  neighborhood  has 
nothing  in  stock  that  his  customers  can  really 
afford  to  buy.  His  shelves  are  covered  with 
canned  and  highly  advertised  package  goods, 
mostly  in  the  smallest  sizes,  whose  price  is  com- 
paratively highest.  In  one  such  store  the  writer 
was  told  by  the  proprietress  that  this  was  the 
only  type  of  goods  she  could  sell,  but  that  she 
herself  could  not  afford  to  use  it  even  at  whole- 
sale prices.  There  is  often  within  walking  dis- 
tance, though  entirely  unknown  to  the  mother, 
a  cash  market  where  prices  are  lower  and  choice 
is  better. 

PREPARATION  OF  FOOD 

While,  as  was  said  in  the  preceding  chapter,  the 
right  choice  of  food  materials  is  even  more  vital 
to  the  welfare  of  a  family  than  skill  in  their  prep- 
aration for  the  table,  it  nevertheless  remains  true 
that  the  observance  of  certain  elementary  rules 
123 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

of  cooking  is  essential.  An  inadequate  or  ill  bal- 
anced assortment  of  materials  cannot  be  made 
into  an  adequate,  well  balanced  diet  by  any  de- 
gree of  skill  on  the  part  of  the  housewife ;  but  it 
is  also  true  that  a  well  chosen  assortment  may  be 
rendered  not  only  unattractive  but  positively  in- 
jurious by  the  manner  of  its  preparation. 

It  is  essential  that  the  preparation  of  food  ren- 
der it  wholesome,  which  it  will  be  if  clean,  well 
cooked,  and  sufficiently  attractive  so  that  enough 
will  be  eaten  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  body.  Un- 
necessary elaboration  of  materials  is  not  only  a 
doubtful  disposal  of  time  and  effort,  but  often 
serves  to  defeat  the  object  of  their  preparation 
by  making  them  indigestible  and  unattractive. 

In  the  preparation  of  food  the  errors  most 
commonly  made  result  in  bread  that  is  sour, 
soggy,  or  underdone ;  cereal  only  partially  cooked ; 
meat  and  eggs  toughened  in  the  cooking;  pota- 
toes soggy ;  green  vegetables  prepared  so  that  the 
juices  are  lost. 

The  instruction  needed  to  correct  the  mistakes 
listed  will  cover  a  reliable  process  of  bread-mak- 
ing if  it  is  thought  best  to  continue  home  baking. 
124 


PURCHASE  AND  PREPARATION 

The  desirability  of  this  depends  upon  the  moth- 
er's physical  strength,  the  extent  of  her  time  at 
home,  and  the  standard  of  cleanliness  she  is  able 
to  maintain.  Where  she  is  not  earning  but  is 
kept  at  home  by  the  care  of  her  family  and  is 
capable  of  baking  wholesome  bread,  it  will  pay 
her  to  do  it,  as  the  raw  materials  usually  cost 
considerably  less  than  the  baker's  loaf.  Arrange- 
ments may  need  to  be  made  for  a  stove  that  will 
bake  before  this  is  possible. 

Directions  for  cooking  processes  may  be  given 
orally,  or  by  means  of  printed  or  typed  recipes. 
Sometimes  a  demonstration  is  necessary. 

Application  of  Heat  to  Food  Materials. — Milk  is 
best  taken  raw — cooking  it  destroys  part  of  its 
vitamines,  causes  a  small  loss  of  its  nutrients, 
and  renders  it  slightly  less  easy  to  digest.  Heat- 
ing it  is  desirable  only  when  bacteria  must  be 
destroyed.  If  it  were  possible  always  to  have 
milk  sufficiently  clean  so  that  it  would  be  safe 
to  use  raw,  as  is  the  case  with  certified  milk,  it 
would  be  much  more  desirable. 

Cereal  products  contain  starch  surrounded  by 
125 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

hard  cellulose  walls.  These  cell  walls  must  be 
softened  and  the  starch  thoroughly  cooked  in 
order  that  they  may  be  easily  digested.  In  cook- 
ing cereal  mushes  the  length  of  time  of  cooking 
is  the  important  part  of  the  process.*  In  bread, 
care  must  be  taken  that  it  is  light  and  well  done 
and  the  process  managed  in  short  enough  time 
so  that  the  dough  will  not  sour  before  it  is  baked. 
High  protein  foods  derived  from  animal 
sources — meats,  fish,  eggs,  and  cheese — contain 
proteins  which  are  rendered  tough  and  difficult 
of  digestion  by  a  high  degree  of  heat.  Therefore, 
the  temperature  at  which  these  food  materials 
are  cooked  is  the  most  important  point  involved. 
The  temperature  for  cooking  eggs  and  cheese 
should  always  be  low  enough  to  prevent  tough- 
ening. In  broiling  and  baking  meat  and  fish  a 
high  heat  is  used  to  harden  the  outer  crust  in 
order  to  preserve  the  juices  that  might  otherwise 
be  lost.  In  treatment  of  tough  meat,  where  the 
hard  fibres  must  be  softened,  a  low  temperature 
must  be  applied  for  a  long  time,  so  we  have  long 

*  See  Appendix  B  for  list  of  cooking  periods  required 
for  different  cereals. 

126 


PURCHASE  AND  PREPARATION 

cooking  for  tough  meats  and  short  cooking  for 
tender  meats.  The  success  in  each  case  depends 
chiefly  upon  keeping  the  temperature  from  run- 
ning too  high. 

Legumes,  like  cereals,  must  be  cooked  long 
enough  to  soften  the  cellulose  walls  and  cook  the 
starch  which  forms  a  large  proportion  of  their 
content. 

Sugar  needs  no  heat. 

Fats  should  not  be  subjected  to  a  heat  high 
enough  to  bring  about  decomposition  in  which 
acids  irritating  to  the  stomach  will  be  formed. 
This  happens  when  the  fat  in  a  pan  smokes  and 
browns. 

Vegetables  vary  in  the  toughness  of  the  cell 
walls  and  in  the  proportion  of  starch.  The  ones 
which  contain  no  starch  and  whose  cell  walls  are 
sufficiently  tender  to  be  easily  masticated  and 
digested  without  cooking  are  best  taken  raw,  as 
this  preserves  the  vitamines  and  minerals  com- 
plete. Lettuce,  celery,  cabbage,  cress,  and  other 
vegetables  of  this  class — even  tender  young  tur- 
nips and  carrots — can  be  dressed  with  salad  oil 
and  served  without  any  application  of  heat. 
127 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

Where  it  must  be  applied  in  order  to  soften  the 
wall  of  cellulose  or  cook  the  starch,  as  in  the 
case  of  potatoes,  parsnips,  green  beans,  etc.,  care 
should  be  taken  to  avoid  the  loss  of  the  juices 
which  contain  the  valuable  minerals.  Baking 
and  steaming  are  excellent  processes,  as  they  re- 
duce this  loss  to  a  minimum. 

Fruits  in  general  need  no  cooking,  but  when 
dried  the  water  needs  to  be  replaced  and  the 
tissues  softened  by  long  soaking  or  slow  cooking. 

Necessary  Cooking  Operations. — A  woman  who 
understands  these  fundamental  principles  of  food 
preparation  and  the  use  of  one  or  more  leavening 
agents  for  making  bread,  and  who  can  handle 
food  materials  and  a  stove,  will  be  able  to  supply 
the  family  dependent  upon  her  with  the  food 
necessary  to  keep  them  in  good  health,  for  she 
will  know  how: 

(1)  To  turn  out  a  light,  sweet  loaf  of  bread  thoroughly 

baked. 

(2)  To  cook  cereal  mushes  until  they  are  thoroughly 

done. 

(3)  To  broil,  roast,  stew,  or  braise  meat  and  fish  so  as  not 

to  toughen  the  protein  or  waste  the  juices,  but  to 

128 


PURCHASE  AND  PREPARATION 

soften  the  tough  fibres  where  this  is  necessary; 
that  is, 

(a)  To  cook  tender  cuts  without  toughening. 

(b)  To  cook  tough  cuts  and  make  them  tender. 

(4)  To  cook  an  egg  without  toughening. 

(5)  To  bake,  boil,  or  steam  vegetables  without  losing 

their  juices. 

(6)  To  bake  or  boil  a  potato  so  that  it  will  be  tender, 

dry,  and  mealy. 

(7)  To  cook  dried  vegetables  or  fruit  so  that  the  water 

will  be  replaced  and  the  hardened  tissues  soft- 
ened. 

If  the  family  insist  upon  use  of  coffee  and  tea, 
she  will  need  to  know  how  to  prepare  these  with- 
out an  excess  of  caffein  or  tannic  acid. 

With  the  aid  of  the  food  materials  that  can  be 
used  without  cooking — milk,  butter  or  butter 
substitutes,  fruit,  green  vegetables,  nuts,  and 
cheese — a  considerable  number  of  menus  is  pos- 
sible, using  no  more  than  the  cooking  operations 
listed  above.  However  desirable  additional  cul- 
inary skill  may  be,  the  above  processes  will,  under 
ordinary  circumstances,  furnish  the  food  neces- 
sary for  preserving  the  health  of  a  family  in  nor- 
mal physical  condition. 


129 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

ESSENTIALS  IN  SERVING  FOOD 

The  regularity  of  meals  and  the  eating  of  them 
in  common  are  perhaps  the  most  essential  ele- 
ments of  food  service.  Probably  no  one  other 
custom  influences  so  greatly  the  development  of 
the  social  life  of  the  family  as  that  of  sitting  down 
together  at  meals.  This  is  usually  the  one  time 
in  the  day  that  all  members  of  the  family,  with 
minds  free  from  outside  disturbances,  can  devote 
to  social  intercourse  with  one  another.  It  is  by 
no  means  a  universal  custom  for  families  to  sit  at 
meals  together.  Mr.  Minor  comes  home  from 
work  at  noon  carrying  a  paper  sack  full  of  bologna 
sausage  and  another  one  with  a  loaf  of  bread.  He 
sits  down  and  cuts  off  a  "hunk"  of  sausage  with 
his  pen-knife  and  hands  it  to  the  child  nearest 
him.  The  child  breaks  for  himself  a  piece  of 
bread  from  the  loaf  and  goes  wherever  his  fancy 
dictates  to  consume  the  food.  At  the  Lenskys 
the  children  coming  home  from  school  at  noon 
pour  for  themselves  a  cup  of  black  coffee  and 
rummage  through  the  pantry  to  see  what  they 
can  find  to  eat  with  it.  In  many  homes  there  is 
130 


PURCHASE  AND  PREPARATION 

not  even  the  equipment  for  sitting  at  a  family 
meal. 

Regularity  of  meal  time  is  recognized  as  being 
one  of  the  most  important  assets  to  good  diges- 
tion. Almost  all  physicians  who  specialize  in  in- 
fant feeding  insist  upon  the  strictest  regularity  of 
feeding  times.  Yet  Mrs.  Smith  reassures  all  who 
inquire  about  the  food  of  her  undergrown  anemic 
children :  "Why,  they  have  awful  appetites,  they 
eat  all  the  time."  This  is  literally  true.  The 
children  are  seldom  seen  without  a  piece  of  bread 
or  a  sweet  roll  in  their  hands.  Consequently,  no 
full  meal  is  ever  eaten  and  the  food  consumption 
of  the  day  is  probably  lower  than  the  child's  real 
requirement. 


VII 
HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

TT  rHILE  health  and  dietary  standards,  and 
the  principles  of  choice  and  preparation  of 
foods  based  upon  them,  have  been  given  a  promi- 
nent place  in  these  pages,  it  must  not  be  supposed 
that  it  is  with  them  alone  that  the  home  visitor  is 
concerned.  Indeed,  many  of  the  examples  al- 
ready cited  will  have  made  clear  that  her  relation 
to  the  life  of  the  family  she  is  called  upon  to  visit 
is  an  all-round  one.  No  feature  of  their  environ- 
ment, no  phase  of  their  common  life  which  seems 
to  be  working  against  the  upward  movement  she 
is  seeking  to  encourage,  should  be  regarded  by 
her  as  outside  her  province. 

Oftentimes  it  will  be  obvious  that  the  housing 
conditions  to  which  the  family  are  subjected  are 
dangerous  to  health  or  render  a  wholesome  home 
life  impossible.  Fortunately,  campaigns  for  bet- 
ter housing  and  better  sanitary  conditions  have 
132 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

given  us  a  basis  of  concrete  fact  to  aid  us  in  for- 
mulating our  housing  standards. 


STANDARDS  OF  HOUSING 

All  the  legal  standards  in  American  cities  are 
compromises  with  abuses  which  have  been  al- 
lowed to  grow  unendurable.  We  cannot  yet 
hope  from  them  the  formulation  of  a  standard 
which  we  can  accept  as  entirely  satisfactory. 
The  housing  codes  of  New  York  and  Chicago 
abolish  the  totally  dark  bedroom  common  before 
they  were  adopted,  but  permit  use  of  the  same 
room  after  an  opening  has  been  cut  into  it  from 
one  adjoining,  which  contains  a  window.  Though 
the  last  state  of  such  a  room  is  far  better  than 
its  first,  it  cannot  yet  be  considered  a  sleeping 
place  conducive  to  good  health.  These  codes 
forbid  the  former  yard  privy,  but  leave  the  water- 
closet  used  by  two  families,  with  its  opportunity 
for  spread  of  disease ;  they  permit  so  large  a  part 
of  the  lot  to  be  covered  by  buildings  that  only  the 
street  is  left  as  a  playground  for  children ;  and  a 
long,  tortuous,  ill  lighted  passageway,  with  its 
133 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

possibilities  for  unwholesome  moral  conditions,  is 
still  possible. 

An  experienced  case  work  supervisor  gives  this 
excellent  suggestion  to  workers  inspecting  rooms 
with  a  view  to  deciding  on  their  desirability  for  a 
family  dwelling.  ' '  Do  not  accept  rooms  in  which 
you  yourself  would  not  take  the  responsibility  of 
bringing  up  these  children.  If  you  could  not 
make  them  healthful  and  home-like,  do  not  expect 
it  of  a  woman  presumably  less  capable  than  your- 
self." 

From  this  point  of  view  we  should  probably 
agree  that  the  rooms  must  be  above  ground,  and 
well  lighted  and  ventilated  by  windows  that  open 
into  the  outdoors — not  on  a  court  or  shaft — and 
that  admit  sunlight  as  well  as  air ;  that  freedom 
from  vermin  be  possible  (it  is  not  if  there  are 
cracks  in  the  plastering  and  around  the  doors  and 
windows  where  they  can  breed  in  hiding) ;  that 
the  rooms  be  in  a  good  state  of  repair,  well  pro- 
vided with  good  water,  and  with  toilet  facilities 
for  the  family  alone;  that  the  approach  to  the 
rooms  be  light,  clean,  and  free  from  interference 
by  others;  that  there  be  play  space  for  children, 
134 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

either  on  the  premises,  where  the  mother  can 
overlook  their  play,  or  in  a  supervised  play- 
ground. It  is  safe  to  say  that  not  less  than  four 
rooms  will  answer  the  requirements  of  the  fam- 
ily of  average  size  and  this  only  when  the  chil- 
dren are  small.  Dr.  Oskar  Pfister,  in  the  Psycho- 
analytic Method,*  warns  parents  against  the 
danger  of  mental  disturbance  in  allowing  a  child 
to  share  the  sleeping  room  of  his  parents  after  his 
first  year.  Three  bedrooms,  if  there  are  children 
of  both  sexes,  will  be  required  even  in  a  small 
family.  For  the  living  room  a  combination  of 
kitchen  and  sitting-room  may  meet  the  needs  of 
a  family  with  very  young  children,  but  the  nat- 
ural expansion  of  social  life  as  the  boys  and  girls 
grow  older  may  make  a  fifth  room  necessary.  A 
pleasant  sitting-room  is  a  potent  factor  in  pre- 
venting adolescent  boys  and  girls  from  seeking 
all  their  pleasure  on  the  street,  or  in  the  dance 
hall  and  pool  room.  It  may  also  prevent  the 
father  from  seeking  his  at  the  corner  saloon. 

*  Pfister,  Oskar:  Psychoanalytic  Method.  Authorized 
translation  by  Dr.  Charles  Rockwell  Payne,  p.  562.  New 
York,  Moffatt,  Yard,  and  Co.,  1917. 

135 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

So  important  are  the  home  conditions,  particu- 
larly the  sleeping  arrangements,  that  in  cases  of 
juvenile  delinquency  or  where  a  boy  or  girl  is 
staying  out  late  at  night,  it  will  be  well  to  take 
careful  note  of  them.  A  widowed  mother  com- 
plained to  the  Juvenile  Court  that  her  two  sons 
of  thirteen  and  eleven  were  staying  away  from 
home  nights.  The  boys  were  found  in  the  sleep- 
ing-room furnished  by  one  of  the  daily  papers  for 
the  newsboys  who  went  out  with  the  early  morn- 
ing edition.  The  bed  on  which  the  boys  slept 
when  at  home  had  no  springs  and  the  thin, ragged 
mattress  was  supported  by  four  slats  lying  across 
the  bed.  The  time  when  the  springs  on  the  bed 
had  broken  down  coincided  with  the  beginning  of 
their  sleeping  away  from  home.  Another  mother 
complained  to  the  agent  of  a  charity  organization 
society  that  her  twelve-year-old  boy  was  becom- 
ing unmanageable  and  staying  out  at  night.  He 
had  always  slept  with  the  grandmother,  and  this 
arrangement  had  not  been  changed  as  the  boy 
grew  older. 

In  Slavic  families  particularly,  boys  and  girls 
as  old  as  twelve  will  sometimes  be  found  sleep- 

136 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

ing  together.  A  boy  who  has  sisters  only  will 
frequently  not  be  given  a  room  of  his  own  even 
after  he  starts  to  work,  but  will  share  that  of  his 
sister  or  his  parents. 

Nor  must  we  forget,  in  passing  on  the  fitness  of 
a  dwelling,  the  clothes  closets  which  make  proper 
care  of  the  clothing  and  order  in  the  rooms  pos- 
sible ;  wherever  possible  the  well  ventilated  pan- 
try for  the  preservation  of  food  and  household 
supplies ;  the  shed  in  which  fuel  can  be  stored  in 
order  that  the  family  may  not  be  confined  to  the 
financially  disastrous  custom  of  buying  coal  by 
the  bucket. 

The  removal  of  a  family  from  a  dark,  ill  smell- 
ing basement  to  clean,  well  ventilated  rooms  is 
frequently  the  work  of  months.  The  mothers' 
pension  department  of  the  Chicago  Juvenile 
Court,  which  insists  upon  clean,  bright  rooms 
above  ground  for  its  wards,  frequently  receives 
protests  from  friends,  aldermen,  and  judges,  as 
well  as  interested  landlords,  against  its  cruelty 
in  insisting  upon  the  removal  of  a  family  from 
rooms  in  which  they  have  lived  contentedly  for 
years.  The  moving  once  accomplished,  the  de- 
137 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

light  of  the  family  in  a  sunny  kitchen  or  in  a  yard 
knows  no  bounds. 

STANDARDS  OF  HOUSEHOLD  EQUIPMENT 

The  modern  well-to-do  housekeeper  who  is  in 
touch  with  the  educational  facilities  which  mean 
easier  ways  of  meeting  her  daily  problems  has 
been  for  some  years  in  the  habit  of  demanding 
good  tools  for  her  work.  But  while  hardware 
shops  are  piled  with  labor-saving  household 
machinery,  the  home  of  the  workingwoman  is 
often  bare  of  the  most  primitive  tools.  Some  of 
these  women  are  extraordinarily  clever  at  mak- 
ing things  "do." 

A  floor  can  be  swept  clean  with  the  stub  of  a 
worn-out  broom;  but  with  infinite  pains.  Many 
of  us  have  seen  a  shining  whiteness  of  table  and 
floor  achieved  with  much  labor,  a  very  little  soap, 
and  a  worn-out  brush ;  but  no  way  has  been  de- 
vised of  making  cracked  and  chipped  dishes  and 
battered  cooking  utensils  sanitary,  particularly 
with  a  scanty  supply  of  soap  and  hot  water,  a 
leaky  dish-pan,  and  no  towel.  Restful  sleep  can- 
not be  obtained  when  the  bed  must  be  shared  by 

138 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEM AKING 

three  other  human  beings,  even  though  they  be 
one's  own  children.  If  springs  are  broken  and 
the  mattress  worn  into  knots,  if  there  are  no 
sheets,  and  only  one  thin  comforter,  supple- 
mented by  coats  and  wraps  for  the  coldest  nights, 
the  chances  for  rest  are  still  less.  A  family  meal 
cannot  be  arranged  if  there  are  not  enough  chairs 
or  plates  or  knives  to  go  around,  or  if  there  is  no 
table  large  enough  for  all  to  sit  down  to  at  once. 
For  the  home  conducted  in  the  simplest  pos- 
sible manner  at  least  the  following  list  of  house- 
hold furnishings  and  furniture  will  be  needed : 

For  Cooking  and  Eating 

(1)  A  cooking  stove  or  range  in  good  condition. 

(2)  A  table  large  enough  to  accommodate  the  whole 
family  and  a  chair  for  each  person.    The  shining 
cleanness  of  a  bare  wooden  table  or  a  white  oil-cloth 
covering  may  make  it  pleasant  to  eat  at,  if  the  use  of 
a  cloth  seems  impracticable,  but  a  doily,  even  if  only 
of  coarse  muslin,  will  heighten  its  attractiveness. 

(3)  Utensils  in  good  condition  for  simple  cooking  opera- 
tions:   often  one  large  kettle  for  soups  and  stews; 
two  or  three  smaller  ones  for  vegetables,  cereals,  etc. ; 
a  baking  dish;   a  baking  pan;   a  muffin  tin;   frying 
pan;  coffee  pot;  and  a  few  knives,  forks,  and  spoons, 
can  be  made  to  answer  all  purposes,  if  more  is  im- 
possible. 

139 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

(4)  Dishes — unchipped  and  uncracked — enough  for  in- 
dividual use:  plates,  cups,  knives,  forks,  and  spoons. 
Also  a  few  bowls,  some  vegetable  dishes,  a  platter, 
pitchers,  drinking  glasses,  and  sugar  bowl. 

For  Sleeping 

There  need  be  beds  enough  so  that  no  more  than  two 
persons  share  the  same  bed.  Each  bed  should  be 
furnished  with  a  good  mattress,  two  pillows,  linen 
enough  for  cleanliness,  and  coverings  enough  to  per- 
mit open  windows  at  night.  This  means  at  least 
three  sheets,  four  pillow  cases,  a  comforter,  a  double 
blanket — more  in  some  climates — for  each  bed.  The 
sheets  and  pillow  cases  can  be  made  at  home  of  un- 
bleached muslin. 

For  Laundry  Work 

Two  zinc  wash-tubs,  if  stationary  ones  are  not  fur- 
nished; one  wash-boiler;  one  wash-board;  one  wringer; 
two  or  three  smoothing  irons  or  a  gas  one;  ironing 
board;  clothesline  and  pins. 

If  no  more  space  than  a  shelf  or  two  in  the 
pantry  is  available  for  storage  of  food  materials, 
enough  flour,  sugar,  rice,  cereals,  and  other 
staples  for  a  week  or  more  can  be  stored  in  a 
dozen  glass  jars  with  tight  lids.  A  tin  box  or 
crockery  jar  is  needed  for  bread,  and  a  larger  one 
140 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

for  flour,  if  baking  can  be  done  at  home.  A 
wash-boiler  is  often  used  as  a  bread -box  tin.  The 
pantry  shelves  should  be  within  easy  arm's 
reach  and  should  be  made  as  attractive  as  pos- 
sible as  it  is  of  the  greatest  importance  that  they 
be  kept  clean  and  free  from  vermin.  Decorative 
pantry  paper,  if  it  appeals  to  the  family's  sense  of 
beauty  and  fitness,  is  sometimes  a  wise  expendi- 
ture out  of  even  a  slender  income.  From  a  sani- 
tary standpoint  a  clean  shelf  of  wood,  bare  or 
painted,  or  one  with  oil  cloth  tacked  on,  may  be 
preferable. 

A  window  refrigerator  may  be  made  of  any 
kind  of  wooden  or  metal  box  fastened  to  the  out- 
side of  a  window,  arranged  with  the  open  side 
toward  the  house.  A  paper  lining  will  make  it 
dust-proof,  and  it  will  keep  milk,  fats,  and  similar 
foods  at  a  suitable  temperature  except  in  hot  or 
very  cold  weather.  In  hot  weather  if  there  is  a 
young  child  whose  milk  must  be  kept  cold  some 
provision  for  the  use  of  ice  is  necessary.  This 
may  be  a  tight  wooden  box  with  paper  used  for 
packing  if  a  refrigerator  is  impossible.  Cooling 
by  evaporation  can  be  used  in  dry  climates  by 
141 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

keeping  a  wet  cloth  around  the  bottle  of  milk  or 
water  set  in  a  shaded  place. 

A  sewing  machine,  even  if  bought  on  the  in- 
stallment plan  with  weekly  payments  of  25  cents, 
is  an  economy  for  almost  any  woman  of  average 
ability  bringing  up  a  family  of  children.  The 
use  of  the  machine  will  save  more  than  this 
amount  in  clothing  for  the  family  and  in  keeping 
up  the  household  furnishing. 

Windows  must  be  provided  with  blinds  or  cur- 
tains, as  the  location  makes  necessary,  in  order  to 
preserve  the  privacy  of  the  family. 

EQUIPMENT  FOR  THE  CARE  OF  CLOTHING  AND 
PERSON 

Friction  in  the  home  life  is  often  caused 
by  lack  of  sufficient  equipment  for  caring  for 
the  clothing.  Sixteen-year-old  James  Means  left 
home  because  of  quarrels  which  had  their  origin 
in  his  hopeless  attempts  to  keep  his  clean  shirts 
unrumpled  and  his  ties  in  a  place  where  his  young 
brother  could  not  find  and  wear  them.  Closets 
and  wardrobes,  chests  or  bureau  drawers  suffi- 
cient to  allow  for  the  separate  care  of  the  clothing 
142 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

of  each  member  of  the  family  and  of  household 
linen,  may  well  be  considered  a  necessity. 

Wherever  the  equipment  is  so  poor  as  to  pre- 
vent orderly  carrying  on  of  the  physical  opera- 
tions necessary  for  the  family  life — eating,  sleep- 
ing, dressing,  the  housekeeping  operations — and 
of  its  social  life,  it  must  be  considered  as  inade- 
quate for  the  family  welfare. 

As  has  been  pointed  out  before,  what  to  one 
individual  is  unendurable  disorder  is  harmony  to 
another,  so  that  so  far  as  comfort  of  the  indi- 
vidual is  concerned  we  might  conceivably  have 
as  many  standards  as  there  are  individuals  in- 
volved. It  is  not  safe  to  assume,  however,  that 
the  degree  of  order  prevailing  in  a  home  is  that 
which  is  best  fitted  to  the  development  of  the 
individuals  of  the  family.  It  is  frequently  true 
that  the  housekeeper  is  in  a  continual  state  of 
nervous  fatigue  because  of  her  inability  to  reach 
her  own  ideal  of  an  orderly  home.  Nervous  Mrs. 
Burnheim  complained  that  her  whole  house  was 
never  straight  at  one  time  and  that  it  worried  her 
so  she  could  not  sleep.  That  this  disorder  was 
the  real  cause  of  her  nervousness  became  appar- 
143 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

ent  through  the  calmer  state  that  she  enjoyed 
after  the  visitor  had  formed  a  plan  of  housework 
with  her  in  which  the  older  children  helped,  so 
that  the  home  at  last  became  habitually  some- 
what nearer  the  mother's  ideal.  In  some  cases  it 
is  the  children  and  not  the  mother  who  are  ren- 
dered nervous  and  irritable  by  the  inability  to 
keep  the  house  orderly.  Rose  Dambrowsky  was 
so  bad  tempered,  according  to  her  mother's  ver- 
sion, that  the  family  had  difficulty  in  enduring 
life  with  her.  Rose  herself  complained  that  she 
had  no  place  for  her  clothes  and  never  could  find 
them ;  that  when  she  came  into  the  kitchen  and 
saw  everything  upside  down,  it  made  her  feel 
like  "tearing  up  the  house." 

Each  member  of  the  family  of  suitable  age 
should  share  in  bringing  order  and  harmony  into 
the  family  life,  but  the  assignment  of  definite 
places  for  their  clothing  and  other  personal  prop- 
erty, as  well  as  for  household  furnishings,  will  be 
a  necessary  part  of  this  work.  The  Thompson 
children  had  been  very  disorderly  about  their 
personal  belongings,  to  the  distress  of  their 
mother,  who,  though  herself  daintily  clean  and 
144 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

exquisitely  orderly,  found  the  task  of  training  the 
children  in  good  personal  habits  quite  beyond 
her.  The  friendly  visitor  helped  her  to  divide 
her  available  closet  and  drawer  space  and  put  up 
hooks  suited  to  the  height  of  each  child,  who 
pasted  his  own  name  above  the  space  allotted  to 
him  and  took  complete  charge  of  his  own  cloth- 
ing. The  shelves  for  household  linen  were  div- 
ided in  the  same  way,  "towels"  pasted  on  one 
shelf  and  ' '  sheets ' '  on  another.  1 1  became  the  re- 
sponsibility of  twelve-year-old  Annie  to  put  this 
part  of  the  washing  away  and  to  see  that  the 
shelves  were  kept  clean  and  orderly.  Under  this 
plan,  with  space  to  put  things  in,  the  children 
rapidly  developed  a  sense  of  personal  responsibil- 
ity about  the  care  of  their  possessions.  In  the 
crowded  confines  of  a  three-  or  four-room  flat  the 
few  personal  articles  each  child  possesses  can  so 
easily  lose  their  identity  that  a  sense  of  responsi- 
bility and  respect  for  property  rights  does  not 
develop  normally. 

For  making  personal  cleanliness  and  neatness 
possible  a  looking-glass  and  wash-basin  are  un- 
questioned necessities.    Whether  or  not  the  bath- 
10  145 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

tub  is  indispensable  may  be  left  an  open  question. 
For  many  careful  mothers  the  wash-tub  by  the 
kitchen  fire  answers  for  bathtub  as  well.  A  bath 
for  each  member  of  the  family  once  a  week  is  as 
much  as  can  usually  be  achieved  in  this  way.  It 
means  not  only  much  lifting  and  heating  of 
water,  but  special  arrangements  for  securing  the 
necessary  privacy  in  the  crowded  home  each 
time  a  bath  is  taken.  Wash -cloths  and  hand  and 
bath  towels  are  needed ;  no  less  than  one  of  each 
for  each  member  of  the  family  is  essential.  Comb 
and  hair-brush  may  with  frequent  cleaning  be  a 
common  family  possession,  though  personal  ones 
may  be  a  psychological  necessity  for  older  chil- 
dren. It  would  seem  unnecessary  to  mention  in- 
dividual tooth-brushes  if  so  many  families  had 
not  been  known  to  point  with  pride  to  the  com- 
mon tooth-brush. 

EQUIPMENT  FOR  HEATING  AND  LIGHTING 

In  many  homes  the  only  means  for  heating  the 

house  is  the  kitchen  range.    This  means  that 

during  the  winter,  fall,  and  early  spring  months 

cooking,  eating,  the  family  washing,  bathing,  and 

146 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

social  life  will  all  be  confined  to  the  kitchen.  Just 
when  in  the  development  of  the  family  this  be- 
comes an  undesirable  arrangement  is  largely  an 
individual  matter.  In  general  a  father,  mother, 
and  two  or  three  small  children  may  find  this 
arrangement  satisfactory  if  the  danger  to  the 
young  children  of  steam  from  the  washing  can  be 
overcome  by  good  ventilation.  As  the  children 
grow  older  or  as  the  number  increases  the  health 
of  the  family  and  the  development  of  their  social 
life  may  require  more  rooms  in  cold  weather.  In 
this  case  a  second  stove  will  be  necessary. 

Kerosene  is  used  for  lighting  by  many  families 
even  in  our  larger  cities,  where  gas  and  electricity 
are  used  by  their  more  fortunate  neighbors,  in 
which  case  kerosene  lamps  are  needed. 

ADDITIONAL  FURNITURE 

The  aforementioned  articles  or  their  equiva- 
lents, used  for  carrying  on  the  fundamental  activi- 
ties of  family  life,  are  necessary  to  all  alike,  but 
there  are  unquestionably  many  others  whose 
utility  is  not  so  unmistakable  but  which  may  play 
an  important  part  in  the  family  development. 
147 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

In  the  opinion  of  the  friendly  visitor  of  the 
Retz  family  the  ragged  and  dirty  sitting-room 
carpet  was  not  an  asset  but  instead  a  serious 
liability  from  a  sanitary  standpoint.  She  felt 
that  a  clean,  bare  floor  would  be  suitable  for  this 
family,  which  consisted  of  a  widow  and  five  chil- 
dren all  under  nine  years  of  age.  But  Mrs.  Retz 
could  not  be  induced  to  give  up  the  shreds  of 
carpet  which  seemed  somehow  to  stand  in  her 
mind  as  a  symbol  of  respectability.  Finally  the 
visitor  arranged  for  a  new  carpet,  which  came  to 
the  family  as  unexpectedly  as  a  gift  from  Heaven. 
Not  even  the  youngest  child  slept  that  night,  but 
all  sat  up  to  gloat  over  the  new  possession,  saying 
over  and  over,  "Mother,  we  are  rich  now,  aren't 
we?" 

An  Italian  family  went  without  meat  for  a 
month  that  they  might  buy  a  picture  of  the 
Madonna  in  a  large  gilt  frame.  A  mother  with 
adolescent  boys  and  girls  often  endures  the  most 
incredible  hardships  in  order  to  secure  or  hold  the 
piano  which  she  fondly  hopes  will  keep  the  chil- 
dren home  at  night.  Who  can  be  sure  that  it  is 


148 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

not  as  real  a  need  as  the  soup  kettle  or  the  sew- 
ing machine? 

CLOTHING 

The  matter  of  clothing,  too,  one  might  well  say, 
affects  the  family  welfare  both  physically  and 
aesthetically.  If  the  function  of  clothing  were 
confined  to  the  protection  of  the  body  from  cold, 
rain,  heat,  and  harmful  contact  with  material 
objects,  definite  standards  of  clothing  would 
doubtless  long  ago  have  been  worked  out:  for 
example,  shoes  that  would  keep  the  feet  dry  and 
warm  in  winter,  cool  and  unwounded  in  summer. 
It  would  be  easy  to  establish  the  number  and 
cost  that  would  furnish  this  protection  for  a  year 
to  a  pair  of  feet  under  given  conditions.  But, 
alas!  there  are  shoes  and  shoes,  the  primary 
thought  behind  their  structure  being  to  please 
an  individual  and  sometimes  a  fantastic  taste. 
Thus  each  article  of  clothing  has  the  double  ser- 
vice of  utility  and  of  expression  of  taste.  Who 
can  say  that  one  function  is  of  more  intrinsic  im- 
portance than  the  other?  In  the  very  young  and 
the  very  old  utility  holds  perhaps  an  unques- 
149 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

tioned  first  place.  Through  adolescence  and 
youth  dress  is  regarded  largely  as  an  opportunity 
to  express  taste.  That  this  point  of  view  emerges 
early  is  evidenced  by  the  instance  of  a  four-year- 
old  girl  who  wore  rompers  with  entire  lack  of  self- 
consciousness  in  a  neighborhood  where  this  style 
of  dress  was  universal.  When  her  family  moved 
to  another  street  where  the  little  ones  all  wore 
dresses  and  where  she  was  called  a  boy,  wearing 
the  rompers  became  a  punishment  to  which  her 
mother  was  unwilling  to  subject  her,  although 
they  gave  her  the  freedom  of  running  and  climb- 
ing, which  she  loved. 

When  Mrs.  Lindsky  received  her  first  monthly 
installment  of  $20  on  her  mother's  pension  the 
first  purchase  was  of  white  shoes  and  stockings 
for  her  ten-  and  twelve-year-old  daughters,  and  a 
new  suit  for  Walter,  her  fifteen-year-old  son, 
whose  wages  furnished  the  remainder  of  the  sup- 
port for  the  family.  For  years  the  children  had 
been  clothed  chiefly  in  second-hand  garments. 
The  girls'  winter  dresses  of  that  year  had  been 
made  with  long,  irregular  stitches  by  the  mother's 
rheumatic  fingers — there  was  no  machine — from 
150 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

dun-colored  outing  flannel,  a  large  quantity  of 
which  had  been  given  to  the  society  caring  for 
them.  They  knew  that  this  purchase  of  clothing 
meant  a  whole  month  in  which  the  diet  would 
consist  chiefly  of  bread  and  coffee. 

A  mother's  lack  of  care  for  her  personal  ap- 
pearance is  often  a  serious  weakness  in  her  con- 
trol of  the  family  situation.  On  a  hot  day  a 
round  of  visits  among  the  poorer  Polish  and 
Slavic  families  will  reveal  many  of  the  mothers 
clothed  in  underwear  only — often  ragged  and 
dirty.  In  winter  their  house  dress  is  apt  to  be  an 
equally  ragged  and  dirty  sweater  worn  directly 
over  the  underwear.  If  the  immigrant  mother 
fails  to  discard  her  headshawl  for  the  American 
hat,  the  gulf  between  the  foreign  parent  and  her 
American  children  is  thereby  widened. 

Mrs.  Consillo,  fat,  good-natured,  and  shiftless, 
was  left  a  widow  with  eight  children.  She  found 
herself  unable  to  manage  the  young  boys  and 
girls,  even  with  the  aid  of  the  twenty -one-year-old 
son  and  eighteen-year-old  daughter  who  were  de- 
pendable young  people  and  added  greatly  to  the 
home.  Twelve-year-old  Stella  was  impertinent 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

and  stayed  out  late  at  night.  The  younger  boys 
were  in  the  habit  of  ignoring  the  mother's  com- 
mands. Mrs.  Consillo  was  advised  to  spend  a 
part  of  her  scanty  income  on  a  neat  wash  dress 
and  aprons  for  housework,  and  a  hat  for  herself. 
With  these  additions  to  her  wardrobe  she  found 
it  much  easier  to  maintain  her  authority  in  the 
home  than  when  dressed  in  the  underwear  and 
sweater  in  which  she  had  been  in  the  habit  of  ap- 
pearing not  only  in  the  presence  of  her  children 
but  in  that  of  callers  of  both  sexes. 

Thus  an  adequate  standard  of  clothing  not 
only  must  furnish  protection  for  the  body — par- 
ticularly the  feet  from  cold  and  wet — but  must  be 
such  as  to  furnish  a  much  needed  vehicle  of  in- 
dividual expression,  for  which  it  is  the  most  uni- 
versal of  all  means. 

THE  HIGHER  LIFE 

If  it  is  difficult  to  reduce  the  self-expression  of 
the  individual  by  means  of  dress  to  minimum 
terms,  how  much  more  difficult  to  measure  and 
standardize,  as  it  were,  numberless  other  forms  of 
expression!  What  are  the  minimum  facilities 
152 


HOUSING  AND  HOMEMAKING 

needed  in  order  that  the  play  spirit  be  developed 
in  the  young,  or  be  kept  from  being  crushed  out 
in  the  adult;  that  sex  attraction  have  such 
means  of  wholesome  expression  as  is  needed  to 
lay  the  foundation  of  a  normal  home  life?  What 
is  the  effect  upon  character  and  citizenship  of  the 
sense  of  security  and  self-respect  which  comes 
from  having  erected  a  barrier  against  misfortune, 
though  the  protection  be  no  stronger  than  the 
industrial  insurance  with  its  5-  or  lo-cent  weekly 
payment?  How  much  is  it  necessary  to  spend 
for  newspapers  and  magazines  that  one  may  be 
an  intelligent  part  of  the  state? 

And  as  to  education — the  time  one  may  give, 
the  price  one  may  pay?  The  standard  for  chil- 
dren is  being  slowly  forced  upward,  but  not  fast 
enough  for  many  parents  who  are  making  untold 
sacrifices  to  give  their  sons  and  daughters  oppor- 
tunities which  they  themselves  never  had.  Mrs. 
Oblonski,  who  can  speak  no  word  of  English, 
sews  far  into  every  night,  though  the  doctor 
warns  her  that  she  is  developing  tuberculosis, 
that  Stanley,  who  might  be  earning,  may  "grad- 
uate" from  public  school.  He  is  two  years  re- 
153 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

tarded  and  does  not  study  well,  so  that  the  so- 
ciety which  kept  him  in  school  last  year  explains 
carefully  to  the  mother  that  it  is  useless  for  him 
to  go  on,  with  his  present  attitude  toward  learn- 
ing. She  only  shakes  her  head,  weeping,  and 
says  that  Stanley  must  "graduate." 

Even  in  a  book  upon  the  matter-of-fact  sub- 
ject of  household  management,  these  imponder- 
ables, these  hopes  and  ambitions,  cannot  be 
wholly  ignored.  Still  less  can  they  be  ignored  by 
the  social  worker  in  the  home,  who,  however  en- 
thusiastic about  a  desired  standard  of  living,  is 
dealing  not  only  with  an  abstract  standard  but 
with  living  people,  who  have  had  a  past  and  are 
striving  to  be  true  to  certain  ideals  of  their  own 
future. 


154 


APPENDIX  A 
SUGGESTIONS  FOR  A  TALK  ON  MILK 

TF  THE  increase  in  the  quantity  of  milk  consumed  by 
*•  the  family  appears  to  be,  as  it  is  in  many  instances,  the 
most  important  change  necessary  in  the  diet,  it  may  be 
accomplished  in  some  such  manner  as  the  following  outline 
suggests.  The  points  selected  for  discussion  are  those 
which  have  been  found  comprehensible  to  uneducated 
women  or  to  children.  Not  only  is  the  amount  of  milk  of 
the  greatest  possible  importance,  but  the  dietetic  instruc- 
tion incident  to  a  discussion  of  its  place  in  the  diet  makes 
a  splendid  ground  work  for  future  talks  on  standards  of 
food. 

Milk  is  a  food  which  contains  some  of  all  the  elements 
needed  for  a  child's  growth.  The  young  calf  gets  nothing 
else  for  a  time  and  grows  very  rapidly.  Milk  must  then 
contain  what  is  needed  to  make  muscles  and  bone.  Bones 
and  teeth  are  largely  made  of  lime  and  no  other  food  con- 
tains so  much  lime  as  milk.  There  is  as  much  lime  in  one 
pint  of  milk  as  is  needed  by  a  child  for  a  day's  growth  of 
bones  and  teeth,  besides  that  needed  for  other  things.  If 
this  necessary  amount  is  not  supplied,  the  bones  may  be 
soft,  as  in  rickets,  and  the  teeth  not  strong  so  that  they  will 
easily  decay. 

Milk  contains  also  a  large  proportion  of  the  food  needed 
to  build  muscle.  It  is  the  same  kind  of  food  in  this  respect 
as  lean  meat.  This  means  that  when  there  is  plenty  of 
milk  less  meat  or  none  at  all  need  be  taken.  Many  people 

155 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

who  study  foods  believe  that  young  children,  at  least  up 
to  seven  years,  are  better  off  with  very  little  meat,  and 
that  we  should  depend  upon  milk,  eggs,  and  cereals  for  the 
material  to  make  their  muscles  grow.  Milk  is  easily  di- 
gested and  is  not  likely  to  cause  disturbance  in  the  intes- 
tine in  the  way  that  meat  does. 

Milk  has  besides  another  quality  which  makes  it  valu- 
able in  children's  food.  It  influences  the  growth  of  chil- 
dren and  other  young  animals  in  a  way  which  we  do  not 
entirely  understand.  Scientists  have  tried  experiments  on 
rats  and  other  young  animals.  When  they  are  fed  on  food 
which  has  been  refined,  they  do  not  grow.  When  milk  is 
added  to  that  food  they  immediately  begin  to  grow. 

We  sometimes  think  of  milk  as  being  an  expensive  food, 
but  this  is  because  we  do  not  realize  how  valuable  it  is. 
We  think  of  it  as  being  something  to  drink  and  not  as  a 
real  food.  It  is  not  an  expensive  food  but  a  cheap  one, 
when  we  consider  all  its  qualities.  One  quart  of  milk 
which  costs  from  10  to  14  cents  is  equal  in  food  value  to  a 
pound  of  steak  which  costs  from  20  to  35  cents,  to  six  eggs 
which  cost  from  15  to  30  cents.  It  is  not  so  cheap  as  bread 
or  cereals,  but  we  cannot  live  on  bread  and  cereals  alone 
and  milk  is  the  best  thing  to  add  to  them  when  we  must 
have  a  cheap  diet. 

Three  quarts  of  milk  contain  enough  butter-fat  to  make 
one-fourth  of  a  pound  of  butter.  If  we  cannot  buy  both 
butter  and  milk,  it  is  much  better  to  put  the  money  into 
milk.  In  this  way  we  get  not  only  the  butter-fat  but  all  of 
the  other  qualities  the  milk  gives.  If  a  child  is  having  a 
full  pint  of  milk  with  the  cream  which  belongs  on  it  every 
day,  he  can  get  along  without  butter  by  having  oleomar- 
garine, meat  fats,  or  oils  instead. 

When  the  child  drinks  milk  he  will  not  ask  for  coffee. 
Coffee  contains  no  food,  so  that  the  money  spent  for  it  is 

156 


APPENDIX  A 

wasted — worse  than  wasted  if  given  to  children,  for  it  does 
them  harm.  It  works  on  their  nerves  and  makes  them 
nervous  and  hard  to  manage,  at  home  and  at  school.  It 
stimulates  them  and  makes  them  feel  strong,  as  it  does  all 
of  us,  so  that  they  do  not  feel  that  they  need  food,  and  do 
not  eat  enough  to  make  them  grow  properly. 

If  a  child  is  used  to  hot  cocoa  occasionally,  the  mother 
should  be  told  that  cocoa  contains  some  of  the  same  stimu- 
lant that  coffee  and  tea  have,  and  should  be  made  very 
weak  for  children — one  level  teaspoonful  to  a  large  cup. 
Cereal  coffee  is  better  still;  set  barley  or  wheat  grains  in 
the  oven  and  leave  them  all  day  to  brown  slowly.  Grind 
or  crush  the  grains  and  boil  until  the  water  is  well  colored. 

The  housekeeper  will  be  very  likely  to  say  that  she  can- 
not afford  to  spend  the  money  for  the  milk.  This  gives  a 
natural  opening  for  discussion  of  the  other  items  of  ex- 
penditure in  order  to  find  a  place  where  a  cut  can  be  made 
without  injury  to  supply  the  money  for  the  milk  advised. 
In  view  of  the  above  facts  about  the  relationship  between 
meat  and  milk,  the  most  natural  place  to  suggest  the  re- 
duction will  be  in  the  amount  spent  for  meat.  If  in  a 
family  of  five  35  cents  per  day  has  been  spent  for  meat  and 
only  one  quart  of  milk  per  day  bought,  at  least  one  addi- 
tional quart  can  be  had  from  the  meat  money  without 
danger  of  this  running  too  low.  It  may  be  desirable  to 
suggest  dishes  to  the  mother  which  she  can  make  in  order 
to  reduce  the  amount  of  meat  served  at  a  meal.  Stews 
can  be  made  with  very  little  meat  used  with  plenty  of 
cereals,  beans,  or  peas,  and  fresh  vegetables.  For  ex- 
ample, to  enough  lima  or  kidney  beans  to  serve  six  persons 
add  half  a  pound  of  chopped  meat  shortly  before  serving. 
Chopped  meat  may  also  be  added  to  a  dish  of  hominy, 
rice,  or  barley,  about  one-half  pound  being  sufficient  to 

11  157 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

lend  flavor  to  enough  of  the  cereal  to  serve  six  or  seven 
persons.  Many  useful  recipes  for  ' '  meat  extending ' '  dishes 
are  being  issued  in  the  National  Food  Administration  bul- 
letins and  elsewhere,  since  the  necessity  for  conserving 
meat  has  become  pressing. 

Another  natural  source  of  money  for  milk  is  found  in  the 
amount  expended  for  butter.  Many  families  with  very 
small  food  allowances  habitually  buy  one-fourth  of  a  pound 
of  butter  every  day.  This  amount  of  butter-fat,  as  pointed 
out  above,  will  be  secured  for  the  family  by  the  purchase  of 
three  quarts  of  milk.  This  may  not,  however,  mean  that 
sufficient  fat  is  contained  in  the  diet.  A  part  of  the  money 
spent  for  butter  may  need  to  be  used  for  a  cheaper  form  of 
fat.  The  same  money  will  buy  at  least  twice  as  much 
oleomargarine,  lard,  suet,  or  cottonseed  oil  as  butter. 


158 


APPENDIX  B 
SPECIAL  DIET  LISTS 

COMETIMES  a  typed  copy  of  dietary  instructions  such 
^  as  the  following  can  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the 
mother  with  good  results. 

DIET  FOR  GROWING  CHILDREN 

1.  Milk 

Every  growing  child  needs  at  least  one  pint  of  milk 
daily.  This  is  for  building  bone  and  teeth  and  providing 
for  the  growth  of  muscle  and  stimulating  general  de- 
velopment. 

2.  Cereals 

Cereals  are  the  next  most  important  food  for  the  grow- 
ing child.     One  or  two  meals  a  day  can  be  made  mostly 
of  cereal  mush  and  milk.     This  is  the  cheapest  as  well 
as  the  best  food  that  can  be  obtained.     Be  sure  that  it  is 
well  cooked.     The  following  kinds  can  be  bought  all  the 
year  around  at  from  5  to  8  cents  a  pound.     Try  all  of 
them  and  change  often: 
Oatmeal,  cook  two  hours  or  more 
Corn  meal,  cook  three  hours  or  more 
Hominy,  cook  four  hours  or  more 
Barley,  cook  two  to  four  hours  or  more 
Cracked  wheat,  cook  six  hours  or  more 
Farina,  cook  one-half  to  one  hour  or  more 
Rice,  boil  one-half  hour  or  steam  fifty  minutes. 

Cereals  bought  by  the  pound  in  a  clean  store  and  kept 
in  covered  jars  at  home  are  just  as  good  as  the  package 

159 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

ones.     They  are  much  cheaper  because  no  money  goes 
into  advertising. 

The  time  for  cooking  may  be  cut  in  half  by  soaking 
over  night  and  boiling  directly  over  the  fire,  but  the 
longer  cooking  gives  a  better  flavor. 

3.  Meats,  Eggs,  etc. 

Meat  need  not  be  given  more  than  three  times  a  week 
in  small  amounts,  if  eggs,  which  are  better  for  the  grow- 
ing child,  can  be  given  on  the  other  days  of  the  week, 
and  if  there  is  at  least  a  pint  of  milk  for  each  one.  Fish 
may  be  used  instead  of  the  meat  or  the  eggs. 

4.  Fat 

Fats  are  very  important  for  the  growing  child.  When 
butter  is  impossible  because  of  the  price,  oleomargarine 
and  other  butter  substitutes,  cottonseed  oil,  peanut  oil, 
and  meat  fats  can  be  used.  Bacon  strips  or  bacon  bris- 
ket is  cheaper  than  butter  and  is  an  easily  digested  fat 
and  is  usually  bought  for  less  than  30  cents  a  pound.* 

5.  Vegetables 

In  order  to  keep  the  blood  supplied  with  iron  and  the 
body  in  good  condition,  vegetables  should  be  used  every 
day.  Teach  the  children  to  eat  all  kinds.  At  each 
season  there  are  some  that  are  cheaper  than  others,  al- 
though a  number  are  likely  to  be  cheap  all  the  year 
around,  e.  g.,  carrots,  which  are  one  of  the  most  valuable 
since  they  contain  a  large  amount  of  iron.  Turnips, 
beets,  parsnips,  all  kinds  of  greens,  green  peas  and  beans, 
lettuce,  etc.,  are  all  valuable.  Dried  beans,  peas,  etc., 
can  take  the  place  of  meat  once  or  twice  a  week.  Use 
all  the  different  kinds  and  particularly  that  cheapest 

*  This  is  no  longer  true  since  the  need  of  the  army  for 
bacon  has  increased  the  price. 

160 


APPENDIX  B 

at  the  moment.  Lima  beans,  kidney,  navy,  Brazilian, 
and  black-eyed  beans,  and  yellow  and  green  split  peas, 
can  be  found  in  most  places.  For  children  under  three 
they  should  be  cooked  to  a  pulp  or  put  through  a  strainer 
or  colander. 

6.  Fruit 

Fruit  is  needed  every  day.  When  fresh  fruits  are  too 
expensive,  try  the  dried  ones.  Dried  apples,  peaches, 
prunes,  apricots,  figs,  etc.,  are  all  valuable  and  cheap. 

7.  Tea  and  Coffee 

Never  give  a  growing  child  coffee,  tea,  or  any  other 
stimulant.  They  will  stunt  its  growth  and  make  it 
nervous  and  hard  to  manage. 

8.  Sugar 

Let  children  have  candy  only  after  meals.  Then  they 
will  not  be  likely  to  eat  too  much.  Do  not  let  them  pile 
sugar  thickly  on  their  cereal.  Children,  as  a  rule,  should 
not  take  more  than  an  ounce  (one  rounded  tablespoon- 
ful)  during  the  day.  Better  still  is  it  for  them  to  get 
their  sugar  through  home-made  fruit  jams  and  marma- 
lades or  through  molasses. 

Keep  regular  hours  for  eating  and  do  not  let  children 
eat  between  meals. 

DIET  FOR  AN  UNDER-NOURISHED  PERSON 

1.  Milk 

At  least  one-half  pint  daily  for  an  adult,  one  pint  for  a 
growing  child.  This  may  be  used  partly  or  wholly  in 
combination  with  cereals,  soup,  etc.,  if  it  cannot  be  taken 
as  a  drink. 

2.  Cereals 

At  least  one  meal,  preferably  breakfast,  should  include 


HOUSEHOLD  MANAGEMENT 

a  bowl  of  cereal  mush  with  milk.    The  following  cereals 

are  desirable  in  the  order  given: 

Cracked  wheat,  cook  six  hours 

Oatmeal,  "     two  hours 

Farina,  "     one-half  hour 

Cornmeal,  "     three  hours 

Only  bread  made  of  whole  grain  flours,  graham,  rye,  and 

whole  wheat  (preferably  home-made),  should  be  used. 

3.  Fats 

All  easily  digested  fats  are  good ;  oleomargarine  and 
other  butter  substitutes,  when  butter  is  too  expensive. 
Peanut  or  cottonseed  oil  makes  an  excellent  dressing  for 
the  lettuce  and  green  vegetables  that  should  be  eaten  in 
good  amounts. 

4.  Sugar 

Too  much  sugar  or  other  sweets  may  aggravate  anemia. 
No  child  should  take  more  than  one  to  two  ounces  daily, 
and  this  allowance  includes  the  amount  in  candy,  cake, 
and  all  forms  of  sweets.  An  ounce  is  about  one  rounded 
tablespoonful.  Under-nourished  children  may  be  hav- 
ing too  much  sugar. 

5.  Meat  and  Eggs 

Egg  yolk  is  very  rich  in  iron,  and  the  diet  should  in- 
clude, if  possible,  an  egg  every  day;  lean  meat,  prefer- 
ably beef,  three  to  five  times  per  week  in  small  amounts. 

6.  Coffee  and  Tea 

Coffee  and  tea  should  be  given  up  absolutely  always 
by  children  and  often  by  adults.  A  hot  drink  made  of 
parched  barley  or  wheat  may  be  substituted. 

7.  Fruits  and  Vegetables 

Fruits  and  vegetables  are  the  most  important  iron- 
162 


APPENDIX  B 

bearing  foods,  and  their  daily  use  is  imperative.  If  they 
can  be  obtained  fresh,  the  canned  products  should  not 
be  bought.  The  following  are  desirable  for  the  under- 
nourished person:  carrots,  spinach,  dandelion  greens, 
beets,  lettuce,  onion,  green  beans,  green  and  dried  peas, 
parsnips,  tomatoes,  celery,  rutabaga,  rhubarb;  prunes, 
oranges,  dried  figs,  dried  apricots,  dried  peaches,  raisins, 
dried  and  fresh  apples. 

Rest  and  good  air  are  almost  as  important  as  food. 
The  under-nourished  person  should  sleep  well  covered 
near  an  open  window  eight  to  ten  hours. 


163 


APPENDIX  C 


AVERAGE  WEIGHTS  AND  HEIGHTS  OF  NORMAL 
CHILDREN* 


A 

Weight  —  Pounds 

Height  —  Inches 

Age 

Boys 

Girls 

Boys 

Girls 

i 

20.5 

19.8 

29.0 

28.7 

2 

26.5 

25-5 

32.5 

32.5 

3 
4 

31.2 
35.0 

30.0 
34-0 

35-0 
38.0 

35-0 
38.0 

5 

41.2 

39-8 

41.7 

41.4 

6 

43-8 

44.1 

43-6 

7 

49-5 

48.0 

46.2 

45-9 

8 

54-5 

52.9 

48.2 

48.0 

9 

60.0 

57-5 

50.1 

49.6 

10 

66.6 

64.1 

52-2 

51.8 

ii 

72.4 

70.3 

54-o 

53-8 

12 

79-8 

81.4 

57-1 

13 

88.3 

91.2 

58.2 

58.7 

14 

99-3 

100.3 

61.0 

60.3 

15 

110.08 

108.04 

63.0 

61.4 

*  Whitman,  Royal:  A  Treatise  on  Orthopedic  Surgery, 
p.  242.  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  Lea  and  Febiger, 
1917  (sth  ed.). 


164 


INDEX 


Accessory  factors  in  nourishment 
of  body,  87-88 

Accounts,  expense:  value  of, 59-61 

Administration  of  minimum  in- 
comes by  unskilled  women,  15- 
18 

Adults:  how  to  meet  mineral  re- 
quirements of,  76,  77;  energy 
requirements  of,  82;  rules  for 
regulating  diet  of,  89.  See  also 
Man 

Aids  to  health  and  household 
management,  43-65 

American  family:  essentials  of 
homemaking  for,  24 

Americanization:  loss  in  process 
of,  24 

Application  of  heat  to  food  ma- 
terials, 125-128 

Average  weights  and  heights  of 
normal  children,  164 


Bedding:  essential  articles  of, 
140.  See  also  Sleeping  arrange- 
ments 

Bedrooms:  ventilation  in,  con- 
ditioned on  adequate  coverings, 
53 

Beer  in  the  workingman's  home, 
102 

Beri-beri  and  vitamines,  88 

Board  of  Estimate  and  Appor- 
tionment, New  York:  cost  of 
living  estimated  by,  10 

Bread:  made  of  whole  grains,  76, 
77,  162 ;  in  a  restricted  diet,  97- 
98;  essentials  in  making,  125, 
126 

Budget,  family:  need  of  help  in 
planning,  26 


Bureau  of  Personal  Service,  New 
York :  estimate  of  cost  of  living 
by,  10 

Butter:  in  a  restricted  diet,  99; 
and  butter-substitutes  in  cheap 
dietary,  115.  See  also  Fats 


Calcium:  uses  of,  in  body,  74.  75; 
sources  of,  76.  See  also  Lime 

Calories:  meaning  and  use  of 
term,  80-8 1 ;  in  common  foods, 
81-82,  85;  required  for  adults, 
82;  required  for  children,  83; 
how  to  meet  requirements  for, 
83-86;  low  cost  dietary  fre- 
quently deficient  in,  86-87 

Case  illustrations:  capable  man- 
agement of  an  inadequate  in- 
come, 15-17;  a  mother's  un- 
wise expenditure  of  an  in- 
creased income,  18-19;  in- 
capable management  of  an  ex- 
istence income,  19-20;  rapid  im- 
provement of  home  conditions 
where  mother  of  good  ability, 
29-31;  a  totally  untrained 
mother  and  her  slow  improve- 
ment, 32-35;  a  mentally  sub- 
normal mother  whose  standards 
improved,  35-37;  improve- 
ment in  home  conditions  fol- 
lowing improvement  in  mother's 
health,  38-40,  41-42;  rapid 
improvement  in  home  where 
insane  husband  removed,  38- 
40;  families  that  resent  dis- 
cussion of  household  affairs. 
47;  successful  use  of  standard 
weights  and  measures  of  chil- 
dren, 55;  influencing  children 
to  give  up  drinking  coffee,  57; 
family  that  regarded  four  in  a 
bed  as  a  fit,  58;  where  pneu- 


165 


INDEX 


monia  confirmed  a  visitor's 
teachings,  59;  revelation  of  an 
expense  account,  61;  of  need 
of  leaving  responsibility  with 
mother,  63 ;  value  of  a  new  en- 
vironment, 64-65;  importance 
of  meat  for  the  man,  98;  failure 
to  appreciate  importance  of 
milk,  100;  use  of  coffee  and 
tea,  101,  102;  little  Louisa's 
diet,  108-109;  eating  habits  in 
poor  families,  130,  131;  im- 
portance of  sleeping  arrange- 
ments for  children,  136;  im- 
portance of  equipment  for  care 
of  clothing,  etc.,  142-145;  a 
new  carpet,  148;  purchases  of 
clothing  from  a  mother's  pen- 
sion, 150-151;  importance  of 
proper  clothing  for  a  mother, 
151-152;  a  mother's  sacrifices 
to  educate  her  son,  153-154 

Cereals:  as  a  source  of  supply 
for  mineral  salts,  76,  77;  as 
energy-producers,  85,  86;  in  a 
restricted  diet,  98;  place  of, 
in  cheap  dietary,  113-114; 
cooking  of,  125-126;  cooking 
times  for,  159;  in  diet  for  an 
under-nourished  person,  162 

Chapin,  Robert  C.,  9,  10 
Chemistry  of  Food  and  Nutrition. 
H.  C.  Sherman,  70,  84 

Chicago:  estimated  cost  of  living 
in,  10;  conditions  abolished 
and  permitted  by  housing 
code  in,  133 

Children :  inquiries  regarding 
health  of,  47-48,  50-54;  training 
of,  in  habits  of  personal  cleanli- 
ness, 49;  use  made  of  standard 
weights  and  measures  of,  54~ 
55;  appeals  to,  as  means  of 
bringing  about  changes  in  diet, 
55-57;  how  to  meet  protein 
requirement  of,  72,  73;  how 
to  meet  lime  requirement  of, 
76;  needs  of,  for  energy-pro- 
ducing food,  78-79,  87;  rules 
for  regulating  diet  of,  89-90; 
coffee  and  tea  drinking  among, 
101-102;  use  of  intoxicants  by, 
102;  Italian  dietary  ill  adapted 


to,  108-109;  sleeping  arrange- 
ments for,  135-137;  diet  list 
for,  150-161;  table  giving  av- 
erage weights  and  heights  of 
normal,  164 

Chittenden,  R.  H.,  70 

Choice  of  foods,  91-120 

Classes  in  household  manage- 
ment, etc.,  43 

Cleanliness:  most  important 
points  in  regard  to,  48-50 

Clothing:  and  person,  equip- 
ment for  care  of,  142-146;  lack 
of  any  standardization  of,  149; 
in  childhood  and  adolescence, 
150;  mothers'  neglect  of  their 
own,  151-152 

Club  and  class  work  for  mothers : 
value  of,  43 

Coal:  cost  of,  by  pail  and  by  ton, 
121 ;  purchase  of,. 122 

Coffee:  stories  of  children  in- 
fluenced to  give  up,  57;  in  a 
restricted  diet,  101-102;  pre- 
paration of,  129;  not  to  be 
given  to  children,  161;  in  diet 
for  an  under-nourished  person, 
162 

Cooking:  elementary  rules  that 
should  govern,  125-129;  opera- 
tions, necessary,  128-129;  es- 
sential equipment  for,  139 

Cost  of  living:  estimates  of,  9-12 


Diet:  rules  for  regulating,  88-90; 
restricted,  characteristics  of, 
95-102,  in;  ways  of  improv- 
ing, I 12-120 

Diet  lists:  for  growing  children, 
159-161;  for  an  under-nour- 
ished person,  161-163 

Dietary,    cheap:     advice    as    to, 

III-I20 

Dietary  habits:   of  Italians,  104- 

109;  of  Poles,  109-110 
Dietary  standards,  66-90 


Eating:   essential  equipment  for, 
139-140 


166 


INDEX 


Economy:  what  visitor  should 
teach,  from  standpoint  of,  119- 
120 

Educational  work  most  needed 
by  mothers,  26 

Eggs:  protein  content  of,  71; 
as  substitute  for  meat,  in  chil- 
dren's diet,  7  2 ;  number  equiva- 
lent to  a  pound  of  meat,  112; 
cooking  of,  126;  in  children's 
diet,  160;  in  diet  for  an  under- 
nourished person,  162 

Energy:  material  for,  78-86 

Environment,  new:  influence  of, 
illustrated,  64-65 

Equipment :  for  the  care  of  cloth- 
ing and  person,  142-146;  for 
heating  and  lighting,  146-147 

Essentials:  of  homemaking,  22- 
24;  in  serving  food,  130-131 

Expense  accounts:  uses  and  value 
of,  S9-6i 


Factors,  see  Accessory  factors 
Families:  grouped  by  types  of 
problems  presented,  27;  with 
comparatively  high  standards, 
problems  of,  illustrated,  27-31; 
low  standard,  whose  food  is 
fairly  adequate,  31-32;  of  all- 
round  low  standards,  examples 
of,  32-42;  that  are  satisfied 
with  conditions,  difficulties  of 
visitors  with,  57-59.  See  also 
Case  illustrations 

Family  problems :  methods  of  ap- 
proach to, 47-48 

Family  unity:  danger  of  breaking 
down,  by  doing  work  that 
should  be  left  to  mother,  62-64 

Fats:  in  a  restricted  diet,  de- 
ficiency of,  99;  in  cheap  dietary, 
how  to  secure  sufficient,  114- 
115;  application  of  heat  to, 
127;  in  diet  for  children,  160: 
in  diet  for  an  under-nourished 
person,  162 

Feeding  the  Family.  Mary  Swartz 
Rose,  72 


Food  and  the  Principles  of  Dietet- 
ics.   Robert  Hutchinson,  85 
Food  habits  of  poor,  94,  95,  96 
Food    materials:     cleanliness    in 
care  of,  49-50;  for  growth  and 
repair,    67-77;    application   of 
heat   to,    125-129:   storage  of, 
140-141 

Food  needs:  discussion  of,  47 
Food  riots  of  1916-17,  96 
Foods:  general  ignorance  ot 
values  of,  26;  valuable  for 
protein  content,  60-73;  valu- 
able for  mineral  salts,  75-77; 
valuable  as  energy-producers, 
80,  85-86;  in  which  vitamines 
are  present,  88;  choice  of,  91- 
120;  preparation  of,  123-129; 
essentials  in  serving,  130-131. 
See  also  Fuel  foods. 
Fruits:  as  sources  of  supply  for 
mineral  salts,  75,  ?6,  77; 
energy  value  of,  85 ;  vitamines 
in,  88;  in  cheap  dietary,  115- 
117;  application  of  heat  to, 
128:  in  diet  for  children,  161; 
in  diet  for  an  under-nourished 
person,  162-163 

Fuel  foods:  need  for,  in  relation 
to  bulk  and  activity,  78-86; 
what  happens  when  there  is 
deficiency  of,  79;  what  they 
are,  80 
Furniture,  additional,  147-149 

Grains:  outer  layers  of,  as  a 
source  of  supply  for  mineral 
salts,  76,  77;  vitamines  in,  88 

Grocers:  dealings  of  families 
with,  122-123 

Group  work  in  household  man- 
agement, 43 

Growth  and  repair:  food  ma- 
terials needed  for,  67-77 

Habits  of  eating  in  families,  93-94 
Health  and  home  conditions:   il- 
lustrations of  improvement  in, 
29-31,38-42 


I67 


INDEX 


Health  and  household  manage- 
ment: aids  to,  43-65 

Health,  good:  what  term  should 
be  understood  to  mean,  53 

Healy,  Dr.  William,  102 

Heat:  application  of,  to  food  ma- 
terials, 125-129 

Heating  and  lighting:  equip- 
ment for,  146-147 

Heights  of  normal  children,  aver- 
age, 164 

Higher  life:  what  is  essential  for 
the,  153,  154 

Home  economics:  need  of  train- 
ing in,  20 

Homemaking:  essentials  of,  22- 
24;  use  of  educational  oppor- 
tunities in,  43;  housing  and, 
132-154 

Household  equipment;  standards 
of,  138-142 

Housing:  and  homemaking,  132- 
154;  standards  of,  133-138 

Husband:  difficulty  of  influenc- 
ing, in  matters  of  diet,  57 

Hutchinson,  Robert,  85 


Immigrants:  peculiarities  of  diet 
among,  103-110 

Incomes,  existence:  examples  of 
administration  of,  by  untrained 
women,  15,  18,  19 

Individual  Delinquent,  Dr.  Wil- 
liam Healy,  102 

Instruction:  in  dietetic  stan- 
dards, need  of,  26;  plans  for 
limiting  points  covered  by,  at 
one  visit,  61-62 

Introduction,  7-21 

Iron:    uses  of,  in  body,  74,  75; 

sources  of,  76,  77 

Italians:  essentials  of  homemak- 
ing for,  24;  dietary  habits  of, 
104-109 


Kennedy,  J.  C.,  10 


Laundry  work:  essentials  for,  140 
Legumes:     as   meat   substitutes, 

112;   cooking  of,  127,  161 
Lime:    uses  of,  in  body,  74,  75; 

sources  of,  76;    as  a  material 

for  regulating  body  processes, 

87 

Magnesium:  as  a  material  for 
regulating  body  processes,  87 

Man:  protein  requirement  of  a, 
70,  72 

Material:  for  energy,  78-86;  for 
regulating  body  processes,  87- 
88 

Meal  times:  importance  of  regu- 
larity in,  131 

Meals:  importance  of  sitting  at, 
130 

Meats:  objections  to  use  of,  by 
young  children,  72,  73;  mis- 
taken impression  regarding 
need  of,  by  those  doing  hard 
muscular  work,  73,  74;  in  a 
restricted  diet,  98-99;  and  meat- 
substitutes,  in  the  cheap  diet- 
ary, 112;  application  of  heat 
to,  126-127;  in  diet  for  chil- 
dren, 160;  in  diet  for  an  under- 
nourished person,  162 

Methods  of  approach  to  family 
problems,  47-48 

Milk:  importance  of  cleanliness 
in  handling,  50;  as  a  source  of 
supply  of  mineral  salts,  75,  76, 
77;  vitamines  in,  88;  in  a 
restricted  diet,  usually  de- 
ficient, 100-101;  place  of,  in 
diet,  112;  application  of  heat 
to,  125;  suggestions  for  a. talk 
on,  155-158;  allowance  for  a 
growing  child,  159;  for  an 
adult,  161 

Mineral  salts:  as  building  ma- 
terials, 74-77;  in  regulating 
body  processes,  87 

Minimum  normal  standard  of 
living,  8-10 

Mothers'  responsibilities:  danger 
of  assuming  too  many  of,  62-64 


168 


INDEX 


Mothers  of  good  ability:    family 

problems  of,  illustrated,  27-31 
Mouth:  care  of,  48-49 

New  York  City :  estimates  of  cost 

of  living  in,  9,  10;    conditions 

abolished    and    permitted    by 

housing  code  in,  133 
Nutrition:       unfamiliarity     of 

mothers  with  principles  of,  26; 

what  visitor  should  teach,  from 

standpoint  of,  118-119 
Nutrition  of  Man.     R.  H.  Chit- 

tenden,  70 

Pfister,  Dr.  Oskar,  135 
Phosphorus:     uses   of,    in   body, 

74,   75;    sources  of,   77;    as  a 

material    for    regulating    body 

processes,  87 

Poles:  dietary  habits  of,  109-110 
Potassium:     as    a    material    for 

regulating  body  processes,  87 
Preparation  of  food,  123-129 
Problems   of  the  visitor  to  the 

home,  22-42 
Protein:   as  a  building  material, 

kinds  of,  68,  69;  standards  for, 

70-74;   amount  of,  in  common 

foods,  71 

Protein  foods,  high:  as  energy- 
producing  foods,  84-85;  place 
of,  in  cheap  dietary,  112-113; 
application  of  heat  to,  126-127 

Psychoanalytic  Method.  Dr.  Oskar 
Pfister,  135 

Purchase,  preparation,  and  serv- 
ing, 121-131 

Refrigerators  and  substitutes  for 
them,  141-142 

Regularity  of  meal  time:  im- 
portance of,  131 

Regulating  body  processes:  ma- 
terial for,  87-88 

Report  on  the  Increased  Cost  of 
Living  for  an  Unskilled  La- 
borer's Family  in  New  York 
City,  10 


Rest:     for    an    under-nourished 

person,  163 

Rose,  Mary  Swartz,  72,  90 
Rules  for  regulating  the  diet,  88- 

90.  See  also  Diet  lists 

Salts,  see  Mineral  Salts 

Scurvy  and  vitamines,  88 

Serving  food,  essentials  of,  130- 
131 

Sewing  machine:  importance  of, 
142 

Sherman,  H.  C.,  70,  84 

Slavic  family:  essentials  of  home- 
making  for,  24 

Sleeping:  essentials  for,  140 

Sleeping  arrangements :  discus- 
sion of,  53;  for  families  with 
children,  135-137;  for  an 
under-nourished  person,  163 

Sodium:  as  a  material  for  regu- 
lating body  processes,  87 

Special  diet  lists,  159-163 

Standard  of  Living  among  Work- 
ingmen's  Families  in  New  York 
City.  Robert  C.  Chapin,  10 

Standard  of  living,  minimum  nor- 
mal, 8-10 

Standards:  dietary,  66-90;  for 
building  material,  71;  for 
energy,  80-86;  of  housing, 
133-138;  of  household  equip- 
ment, 138-142 

Starchy  foods  as  producers  of 
energy,  85 

Storage  of  food  materials,  140-141 

Sugar:  as  a  fuel  food,  85,  86;  in  a 
restricted  diet,  99;  in  the  cheap 
dietary,  117-118;  application 
of  heat  to,  127;  in  diet  for  chil- 
dren, 161;  in  diet  for  an  under- 
nourished person,  162 

Suggestions  for  a  talk  on  milk, 
155-158 

Supplies:  purchase  of ,  121-123 

Swedish  woman :  restoration  of  a, 
to  former  standard,  25 

Sweets,  see  Sugar 


I69 


INDEX 


Tea:  in  a  restricted  diet,  101- 
102;  preparation  of,  129;  not 
to  be  given  to  children,  161; 
in  diet  for  an  under-nourished 
person,  162 

Tuberculous  family:  story  of  im- 
provement in  a,  29-31 


Under-nourished     person : 
list  for  an,  161-163 


diet 


Variety  in  diet:    importance  of, 

III,   112 

Vegetables:  as  sources  of  supply 
for  mineral  salts,  75,  76,  77; 
energy  value  of,  85;  vitamines 
in,  88;  in  children's  diet,  90, 
160;  prices  of,  as  cause  of  food 
riots,  96;  in  cheap  dietary,  115- 
116;  application  of  heat  to, 
127-128;  in  diet  for  an  under- 
nourished person,  162-163 

Ventilation  in  bedrooms:  and 
adequate  coverings,  53 

Vermin:  reasons  why  presence  of, 
serious,  50;  possibility  of  free- 
dom from,  essential,  134 


Visitor  to  the  home:  problems  of, 
22-42;  qualities  needed  by,  44- 
47;  plans  of  limiting  instruc- 
tion at  any  one  visit,  61-62; 
what  she  should  teach  regard- 
ing diet,  118-120;  her  prov- 
ince, 132 

Vitamines:  importance  of,  and 
sources  of,  87-88 


Wages  and  Family  Budgets  in  the 
Chicago  Stockyards  District. 
John  C.  Kennedy  and  others,  10 

Washing  and  ironing:  essentials 
for,  140 

Water:  importance  of,  as  a  regu- 
lator of  body  processes,  87 

Weights  and  measures  of  normal 
children:  use  or  standard  table 
of,  54-55;  table  giving,  for 
different  ages,  164 

Wheat  flour  in  a  restricted  diet, 

97,  98 
Workingmen:      interest     of,     in 

questions  of  nutrition,  etc.,  57; 

unfounded     views    that    high 

meat  diet  necessary  for,  73 


170 


SOCIAL  WORK  SERIES 

EDITED  BY  MARY  E.  RICHMOND 

MANY  people  have  general  views  in  these  days 
upon  almost  any  matter  which  affects  social 
welfare ;  we  all  know  how  easily  such  views  find 
expression.  On  the  other  hand,  only  a  few  have 
the  patience  and  the  insight  to  gather  the  specific 
facts  and  find  out  what  they  mean.  Still  fewer — 
having  done  so  much  as  this — can  explain  the 
meaning  lucidly  and  in  brief  compass. 

It  is  the  ambition  of  the  Social  Work  Series  to 
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The  first  of  the  series  was  Disasters  and  the 
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